Police: Mass shooting at San Diego apartments not racially motivated

SAN DIEGO—The gunman who shot seven people during a poolside birthday party in San Diego on Sunday called his ex-girlfriend after wounding two and kept her on the phone while he carried out his rampage, police said Monday.

Investigators believe 49-yearold Peter Selis was despondent over his recent break up, and that his many victims were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

One woman, who police have not yet identified, died of her injuries Sunday night.

San Diego police Chief Shelley Zimmerman, at a press conference outside police headquarters, said they do not believe the shooting was racially motivated. Everyone shot was black or Latino, and Selis was white.

“There is zero information to indicate that race played a factor in this crime,” the chief said.

Selis also faced crushing debt, court records revealed. A 2015 bankruptcy filing stated the 49-year-old, who lived at the upscale La Jolla Crossroads complex, owed tens of thousands of dollars to medical groups, credit card companies and tax collectors.

About 30 people were in the pool area—many who were celebrating a friend’s birthday party—when Selis started shooting from a lounge chair about 6:05 p.m. One witness described Selis as “relaxed and shooting.”

Selis called his ex-girlfriend after he started shooting, police said. He told her what he had done and that officers were there. Police believe he wanted her to listen in as he continued shooting.

In the pandemonium that followed, partygoer Drew Phillips carried one of the wounded to safety.

“He was just laying there, and just the look in his eyes—sheer terror,” Phillips said. “I threw my phone down. I just picked him up and I just carried him. I basically ran as fast as I could with him in my arms.”

When Selis fired at approaching officers with his .45-caliber Sig Saur, they returned fire and killed him.

Investigators do not believe he had pre-planned the attack.