San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
SUSPECT IN FATAL VISTA SHOOTING IDENTIFIED
A man who was shot and killed by a resident while allegedly attempting to break into a Vista home this week was identified Saturday.
The resident called 911 about 5 a.m. Thursday after spotting a man in the backyard of the home on York Drive near Santa Fe Avenue, sheriff ’s Lt. Jospeph Jarjura said. The caller was worried the man was going to try to break in.
While still on the phone with the Sheriff’s Department, the resident told dispatchers the man had gotten into the home through a window, Jarjura said. Dispatchers then heard the caller fire a single gunshot.
Deputies arrived and found 43-year-old Theodore Anthony Stewart, of Vista, mortally wounded, Jarjura said. Deputies and paramedics assisted Stewart, and he was taken to a hospital where he died.
Investigators said there’s no indication that the resident, who was home alone at the time of the shooting, knew Stewart.
“We are still in the early stages of this investigation,” Jarjura said in the release. “We have yet to determine all the facts surrounding this incident.”
Anyone with information about this incident was asked to call the sheriff ’s Homicide Unit at (858) 285-6330 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at (888) 5808477.
Police: Driver in crash under the influence
Alcohol was likely a factor in a multivehicle crash in Oceanside that took two lives Friday night, police said.
The collision was reported at the intersection of state Route 76 and Canyon Drive about 7:40 p.m.
Investigators determined a gray Mercedes sedan was headed north on Canyon Drive when its driver ran a red light and the car was broadsided by a U-haul truck headed east on SR76, Oceanside police said in a news release. The force of the crash propelled both vehicles into a white Kia sedan that was preparing to make a left turn from westbound SR76.
The driver and the passenger in the Mercedes died before they could be taken to a hospital, police said. The two other drivers were treated for minor injuries at the scene.
Police suspect the Mercedes driver was under the influence of alcohol when the crash happened. The names of the two people who died are known, but their identities are being withheld until their families can be notified.
Anyone with information about the crash was asked to call Oceanside police Officer Ibrahim Serdah at (760) 435-4769.