LOCAL BRIEFING Deputies’ killer dies on death row Deputies kill homeless man Fatal gunfight at motorcycle club Dog shot dead after biting kids

A 53-year-old man convicted of killing two Riverside County sheriff ’s deputies in 1997 has died after possibly committing suicide, corrections authorities said Monday.

Timothy Russell was convicted in the ambush slayings of James Lehmann Jr., 41, an Apple Valley resident, and Michael Haugen, 33, who lived in San Jacinto.

The deputies had responded to an early morning domestic violence call near a remote, desert-area mobile home where Russell lived. Officials said Russell was hiding behind brush and opened fire with a World War II-vintage military carbine as the deputies got out of their patrol cars in the predawn darkness Jan. 5, 1997. They died at the scene.

Russell had been on death row since Jan. 14, 1999, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said. He was found unresponsive late Friday in his single-inmate cell at San Quentin State Prison and pronounced dead the next day. His death is being investigated as a suicide, corrections officials said.

— Robert J. L opez

Los Angeles County sheriff ’s deputies shot and killed a homeless man wielding a stick, officials said.

The shooting occurred around 3:50 p.m. Sunday near Venice and La Cienega boulevards.

Deputies with the Transit Services Bureau came into contact with the man when he “suddenly armed himself with a wooden stick,” the Sheriff ’s Department said in a news release.

The man then “advanced toward the deputies with the wooden stick overhead,” prompting them to open fire, the release said.

Officials said the man, who has not been identified, was taken to a hospital, where he died.

— Ari Bloomekatz

A gunfight over the weekend at a motorcycle club gathering in Fresno left one person dead and at least a dozen injured.

Authorities said the gunfire began about 2 a.m. Saturday at the Soul Brothers clubhouse at Calwa Avenue and Pullman Street.

The motorcycle club was holding a dance with several hundred people in attendance when the shots were fired. As deputies arrived, people were f leeing and shots were still being fired, according to the Fresno County Sheriff ’s Office.

The shooting began inside the clubhouse, then moved outside where there was a running gun battle.

The sheriff ’s office said that other than the fatality, the injuries ranged “from minor to extremely serious.”

The victim who died was not immediately identified.

— Ari Bloomekatz

Two children are recovering after being bitten by a pit bull that was then shot and killed by a neighbor.

The incident occurred Sunday in San Bernardino. The children suffered minor injuries and were released from a hospital.

The children were rescued by a neighbor who ran out and scared the dog away. Officials said the dog came back, growled and lunged at the neighbor, who grabbed a shotgun and killed it.

No charges are expected against the neighbor, but authorities said they were investigating the owner of the dog to determine how it got loose and whether neglect was involved.

— associated press