Sandra Bullock’s stalker kills self in SWAT standoff
Mentally unstable man thought he was married to actress.
A man who was convicted of stalking actress Sandra Bullock in 2014 killed himself inside a La Crescenta home during a standoff with Los Angeles police, his attorney said.
The incident began about 6:45 a.m. Wednesday when officers arrived at the residence in the 2400 block of Harmony Place to serve an arrest warrant, said LAPD Detective Meghan Aguilar.
Joshua James Corbett had missed a court date last month and officers had gone to his parents’ residence, where he lived in a guest house, to arrest him, attorney Steve Sitkoff said.
When Corbett, 42, refused to leave and threatened to shoot officers, a SWAT team was called, Aguilar said.
About 10:30 a.m., Sitkoff received a call from the crisis negotiation team at the scene, asking if he would be willing to come talk to Corbett. Sitkoff agreed but said he didn’t hear back.
When the negotiations stalled about five hours later, the SWAT team deployed canisters of gas. Officers then entered the house, where they found Corbett dead.
An autopsy was performed Thursday. Corbett’s cause of death is given as “multiple incised wounds,” according to Los Angeles County coroner spokesman David Smith.
Corbett had mental health problems and had stopped going to counseling, Sitkoff said.
“When he was getting help and medication, he was really a gentle soul,” Sitkoff said. “He was a good person, but he had mental health demons that we really thought he was controlling.”
Corbett pleaded no contest last year and was sentenced to five years’ probation for stalking Bullock and breaking into her Los Angeles home in June 2014.
When Bullock found Corbett inside her home, she locked herself in a room and dialed 911.
“He thought he was married to her,” Sitkoff said.
Corbett was ordered not to contact the actress for 10 years and to seek continued treatment for his mental health condition.