[Was watching this on Fox earlier. Pretty weird.]

Fox

Gunman Barricaded in Burning Home After Killing Sheriff's Deputy

A man shot and killed a sheriff's deputy Friday, then holed up inside a home that became fuel for violent flames after officers lobbed tear gas inside.

James Beck, 35 years old and a one-time police officer, fired hundreds of shots at the beginning of the standoff, when agents tried to detain him for allegedly impersonating an officer and for possessing a firearm as a felon.

As the blaze consumed the house in an affluent section of Santa Clarita, Calif., firefighters showered the home with streams of water from a distance for fear that the heavily armed gunman could still strike. Neighborhood residents had been evacuated prior to the use of tear gas.

Although there was some speculation that the tear gas may have ignited the fire, authorities believe Beck started the blaze himself, Deputy Harry Drucker said. Officials also believed the man remained in the house during the fire.

Beck had two prior convictions, for burglary and impersonating a police officer, William Woolsey of the U.S. Marshals Service said.

Beck worked for the Arcadia Police Department for one year, but was fired because he didn't pass probation, Chief Dave Hinig said.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca tearfully told reporters that Deputy Jake Kuredjian, 40, a 17-year veteran of the department, was shot to death at 9 a.m. while serving a warrant at Beck's home.

The warrant accused Beck of posing as a deputy U.S. marshal and stockpiling weapons, the U.S. Marshals Service said.

There was an early report that a federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent was wounded, but Deputy David Cervantes said later the agent was OK. Kuredjian was shot in the upper body and was taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital and pronounced dead.

Officers arrived around 8:30 a.m. to search Beck's home when a gunman began firing randomly out of the house, authorities said.

SWAT team officers surrounded the home and fired tear gas inside. Gas clouds billowed from second floor windows moments later, and the blaze burned for about 20 minutes before firefighters began battling the fire.

The Stevenson Ranch neighborhood, an area of half-million dollar homes 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, was evacuated while deputies and agents were brought in by helicopter.

Teri Cerino, who lives across the street, said Beck told everyone he worked for the U.S. Marshals Service.

"It was kind of strange because he never seemed to have a uniform on or anything. He had no government license plates on his cars and was always changing cars and it was just kind of strange. Some of us kind of suspected there were problems with him," Cerino said.

Cerino watched the shooting unfold through a second story window of her home.

"They started yelling at him to come outside. He came to the door and said he didn't want them to hurt his dog," Cerino said. "They said, 'We don't care about the dog.' At that point, he kept saying, 'Don't hurt my dog.'

"He went back in the house and he closed his door. At that point they kept yelling at him to come out, and then his girlfriend came out through the garage," she said.

Officers then tried to knock down the door and gunfire erupted as officers started to go through a window.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

-- Anonymous, August 31, 2001