Police identify suspect, victim in fatal shooting at Arroyo Grande apartment complex

Content warning: This story mentions suicide.

Arroyo Grande police have identified the deceased suspect and the victim in a fatal shooting at a senior living apartment complex on Wednesday.

Police said David Falcon, 66 and a resident of the Cortina D’Arroyo Grande Apartments at 241 N. Courtland St., is suspected of shooting the apartment manager, Cambria Grant, 57, at the complex on Wednesday afternoon.

Arroyo Grande Police Department Cmdr. Dave Culver said police received a 911 call at 3:05 p.m., for shots fired near the complex manager’s office.

Officers who responded to the scene “found a victim that was deceased as a result of the gunfire,” Culver said Wednesday night.

Police identified Falcon as the suspect and determined he was barricaded in his apartment at the complex, according to a department news release on Thursday morning. Police evacuated adjacent apartments as a precautionary measure as a standoff ensued.

Courtland Street was also closed between Grand and Brighton avenues due to the law enforcement response.

Suspect found dead after hours-long standoff

According to Culver, police spent some time attempting to convince Falcon to peacefully exit the barricaded apartment, but at some point he cut off communication with the negotiator.

When communication stopped, police said In the new release Thursday, a “single gunshot was heard by officers staged outside the suspect’s apartment door.”

Around 6 p.m., the San Luis Obispo County regional SWAT team attempted to make contact with Falcon in his apartment. Soon after at around 6:25 p.m., popping noises and glass breaking could be heard in the area of the standoff, as well as shouted instructions from negotiators.

Culver said once SWAT was able to enter the apartment, they found the man dead from an apparent “self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

“We really don’t know the circumstances that led up to this event,” Culver said Wednesday evening.

On Thursday, Arroyo Grande police Cmdr. Zak Ayala told The Tribune that “the motive is still being vetted at this time.”

“But indications are that the person killed was his only intended victim,” Ayala said.

The name of the victim was not being released pending notification to next of kin, police said Thursday.

“The Arroyo Grande Police Department expresses deep sorrow for the loss of life in this tragic event, extending our condolences to the families and loved ones affected,” the department said in the release.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing.