Suicidal man who fired on Murrieta officers arrested after standoff at apartment complex
MURRIETA, Calif., — Authorities say a suicidal man who fired upon officers was later arrested for attempted murder of a peace officer and other related charges early Monday morning. The initial shooting, which happened at the Silverado Apartments at 25100 Vista Murrieta, led to an hours-long SWAT standoff that began Sunday evening Aug. 8 and ended early the next morning.
Although some of the rounds, which came from a third-floor apartment, pierced the walls of other surrounding apartments, no officers or citizens were injured by the man’s gunfire.
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City of Murrieta police officers were dispatched to the apartment complex around 9:38 p.m. after receiving reports of gunfire from one of the apartments, Murrieta Police Lieutenant James Gruwell later reported.
At some point after officers arrived, the suspect, since identified as John Paul Stankiewicz, 34, of Murrieta, fired upon responding officers, forcing them put out an emergency request for additional resources including a SWAT team with armored tactical rescue vehicles.
Over the next several hours Stankiewicz told negotiators that he wanted to shoot police officers, according to Gruwell; who described the man as suicidal.
At around 12:30 a.m., with heavily armed SWAT and other officers at the ready, negotiators eventually managed to coax Stankiewicz out of his apartment. However, although he put down his gun as he was ordered, Stankiewicz refused to comply with other commands forcing officers to take him down with a less-lethal Taser deployment.
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Stankiewicz was later booked into the Cois M. Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta on suspicion of attempted murder of a peace officer, assault with a firearm on a peace officer, assault with a semiautomatic weapon, shooting into an inhabited dwelling, brandishing a firearm while resisting arrest, and felony discharge of a firearm.
Online jail records indicate he remains in custody in lieu of $1.1 million bail or bond and his next court date has been scheduled for Aug. 23 at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.
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Trevor Montgomery, 50, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).
Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.