Neighbor: Man Arrested by SWAT Engaged in Suspicious Activity

Updated at 9:20 p.m. May 10, 2012

Explosions could be heard and tear gas filled the air before an Oceanside police SWAT team arrested an Oceanside man who allegedly shot a pellet gun at them multiple times in a Thursday afternoon standoff.

“Stop shooting at us,” an officer shouted at the gunman various times with a bullhorn. The gunman later was identified as Noel Sean Myers, 50.

One officer was hit with a pellet in the face, police reported. 

Police officers and the tactical team surrounded the Myers home at 606 S. Cleveland St., and used an armored vehicle to serve an arrest warrant on him.

Police went to the home around 3 p.m. to take the resident into custody on suspicion of assaulting his father and a neighbor, said police Lt. Leonard Mata.

Police responded to an incident at the home this week, neighbor Bruce Combs said, adding that Myers had been violently shaking a fence and throwing objects.

“That’s what made the officers step it up,” he said. “He wasn’t being rational.”

When officers contacted Myers on Thursday, he holed up in his home near Minnesota Avenue, according to Mata. Officers then began using a bullhorn to try to persuade him to give himself up.

Myers—thought to have guns in his residence—surrendered to police after they deployed tear gas. 

Neighbor Combs described Myers as a friendly yet standoffish man who often engaged in suspicious activity. He would burn material that made Combs ill, he said.

Combs said he had seen men stand guard by flashy luxury cars, adding that he also saw white vans unload packages into the home.

One neighbor, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she was surprised by the arrest.

“He’s a nice guy who always cleaned the alley,” she said, adding that he was strong and would volunteer to help her with labor around the home.

During the three-hour standoff, officers addressed Myers various times with a bullhorn and asked him to come out to keep him and the officers safe.  Officers could be seen patting the man on the back and tending to wounds on Myers’ chest. Nonlethal projectiles were used, police said.

Neighbor Kathy Combs—Bruce’s wife—said she appreciated the team treating Myers humanely.

—City News Service contributed to this report.

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