Deputies kill 2 in gunbattle on reservation

SAN JACINTO, Calif. (AP) — A man and woman opened fire on guards at an entrance to an Indian reservation and fled into the hills, where they were killed in a gun battle with sheriff’s deputies and a SWAT team, authorities said Tuesday. It was the second deadly gunfight involving deputies on the reservation in five days.

The motive for the Monday night attack was unknown, said Riverside County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Dennis Gutierrez.

The gunfire began at a guard station on a road a few hundred yards from a casino operated by the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians, who have a 3,170-acre reservation on the foothills of the San Jacinto Mountains about 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

The names of the man and woman — and whether they were tribal members — were not immediately released. Reporters were denied access to the reservation Tuesday and phone messages left by The Associated Press at the tribal administration office were not returned.

The assailants used “assault-style weapons,” and the tribal security guards called 911, Gutierrez said.

A responding sheriff’s helicopter and deputies on the ground were fired upon, he said. The rear window of a patrol car was shot out.

The attackers fled seven miles up a dirt road into the hills, where they were eventually killed in a standoff with five deputies and four members of a SWAT team, Gutierrez said. He would not say how many shots were fired.

The law enforcement officers involved were placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation. The tribal chairman and sheriff’s officials were expected to meet Tuesday.

Gutierrez indicated that the bodies remained at the scene.

“We respect the nation (tribe), but any time we have a crime scene, we have to keep that crime scene with all integrity. ... If it’s disturbed we may be missing some crucial evidence,” Gutierrez said.

It was the second fatal shooting by deputies on the reservation in less than a week. On Thursday, deputies killed tribal member Eli Morillo, 26, after he began shooting at them with an assault rifle.

The Press-Enterprise of Riverside reported that Morillo was a member of a prominent Soboba family.