City Finds Building, Fire Code Violations in Wake of Del Sol Shooting

In the wake of in the 1100 block of N. Del Sol Lane, a city investigation has found numerous building and fire code violations at the residence where the incident took place.

On Thursday, city officials and investigators from the Los Angeles County Fire Department and hazardous materials team inspected the home with consent from the owner and found fire hazards including blocked exits and corridors as well as a variety of heavy auto and motorcycle repair machinery that the city's Community Development Director, Greg Gubman, said posed an electrical danger when operated from a residential power supply.

"We are still working on the investigation of the home," Gubman said, "but there are a number of code violations to do with the safety of the premises for human occupancy."

Gubman said the code violations at the home do not pose a safety concern for neighbors. 

"We are focused on getting the inoperable vehicles out of the front yard," Gubman said.

The residence is currently red-tagged, prohibiting occupation of the home until the fire and building code violations are resolved. Gubman said the city will issue a list of violations to be corrected to the resident and said he does not expect that further city intervention will be necessary. 

"We're trying to work cooperatively with the homeowner to correct the violations," Gubman said.

In some situations, the city can set up what is called a receivership to take control of addressing code violations, which is funded by placing a lien on the home, but Gubman said that process would likely not be necessary.

The homeowner, who declined to give her full name, said Thursday that she had acquired most of the items through the inheritance of four estates.

Throughout the home, Gubman said, there was an array of auto and motorcycle repair equipment and parts.

Gubman said there is no evidence that a commercial repair business was being conducted at the home using the machinery and there is no known connection between the code violations and the cause of the April 7 shooting.

Gubman said the red tag on the home will not prohibit the homeowner from working on code improvements to the exterior of the home while specific interior violations are addressed.

Gubman said he expects the city to issue a full account of the code violations to be addressed by Monday.