Mount Helix Shooter Identified

A 15-hour police standoff in a hilly neighborhood near La Mesa ended early Tuesday with the discovery that a gun-wielding man who had kept a SWAT team at bay at his home was dead of an apparently self- inflicted gunshot wound.

Lionel Silva, 47, allegedly threatened to do harm to his fiancee and himself before holing up alone in his home in the 9900 block of Grandview Drive in the Mount Helix area about 10 a.m. Monday, according to sheriff's officials.

Silva, who reportedly had been drinking heavily and was armed with a rifle and possibly other guns, fired bursts of shots throughout the day, some inside the home and a few toward an armored law enforcement truck parked nearby, authorities said. The gunfire resulted in no injuries to anyone outside the suspect's house.

Authorities closed a stretch of the street to through traffic, evacuated nearby homes and advised residents within a one-mile radius to stay indoors and keep their windows, curtains and blinds closed.

Shortly before 1 a.m., deputies sent a robot into the suspect's home and discovered him dead in his master bedroom. He appeared to have shot himself, authorities said.

It was unclear what sparked the dispute between Silva, who was divorced, and his girlfriend, according to investigators.

–City News Service