The deaths of an elderly couple who were fatally shot over the Memorial Day weekend at a home near Padre Dam Park have been ruled a murder-suicide, authorities reported Tuesday.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said that deputies responding to a call in the 300 block of Lantern Crest Way in the Santee area at around 11:30 a.m. Sunday found the bodies of David Soulner, 82, and his wife Claire, 79.

Investigators concluded that David Soulner shot his spouse before turning the gun on himself, sheriff’s Lt. Michael Krugh said.

“The circumstances and motivation for this crime are still under investigation,” Krugh said Tuesday.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Homicide Unit at (858) 285-6330 or San Diego Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

City News Service contributed to this report.

A 40-year-old man from Homeland remained under arrest Tuesday on suspicion of murder, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department announced.

Deputies responded to the 31000 block of Neer Street in Homeland around 5:30 p.m. Sunday to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon.

Upon arrival, deputies found a man suffering from a gunshot wound in a vehicle. The man was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was later identified as Ryan White, 43, of San Diego County.

Deputies contacted and detained a possible suspect at the scene. The man also required medical attention and was rushed to a nearby hospital. He was later identified as Benjamin Velez of Homeland.

Velez was arrested on Monday and booked in to the Riverside County Jail where he was being held on a $1 million bail.

Anyone with additional information was encouraged to contact investigator K. Farag at 951-955-2777.

More than 33,000 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $468 million was offloaded by the U.S. Coast Guard Tuesday in San Diego.

Officials say the drugs were seized through eight separate smuggling vessel interdictions in February and March of this year.

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Munro, which offloaded the cocaine on Tuesday, seized the drugs from vessels off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America.

Rear Admiral Andrew Sugimoto, commander of Coast Guard District 11, said in a statement, “I am extremely proud of this crew and their dedication to disrupting organized crime in the Eastern Pacific. The effort put in while interdicting more than 33,000 lbs of cocaine in a few weeks’ time is unparalleled.”

The seizures took place on:

• Feb. 21, 3,946 lbs of cocaine seized
• Feb. 24, 3,803 lbs of cocaine seized
• Feb. 26, 3,108 lbs of cocaine seized
• March 10, 4,709 lbs of cocaine seized
• March 17, 7,852 lbs of cocaine seized
• March 18, 2,841 lbs of cocaine seized
• March 18, 2,841 lbs of cocaine seized
• March 23, 4,784 lbs of cocaine seized

“The crew put in an incredible amount of work over very long hours, and I couldn’t be prouder of them,” said Capt. Rula Deisher, Coast Guard Cutter Munro’s commanding officer. “Their dedication and grit goes to show that Munro is one of the best national security cutters in the fleet, and we are committed to keeping the country safe by stopping illegal drugs before they hit the street.”

City News Service contributed to this article.

Following a closure due to a shark activity in the area, ocean waters in the San Clemente area were reopened Tuesday, but a shark advisory remained in effect warning swimmers to enter the surf at their own risk.

The shark advisory will remain in place until at least 8 p.m. Tuesday, “pending no additional shark sightings,” according to city officials.

A shark knocked a surfer off of his board off the coast of San Clemente late Monday morning, prompting authorities to close the water to swimmers and others on the busy Memorial Day holiday. City officials said at the time the closure was due to “confirmed aggressive shark behavior” in the water in the vicinity of T-Street Beach.

The beaches remained open, but water access was closed.

City Councilman Chris Duncan told CBS2 that surfers reported the activity to lifeguards, who reviewed surveillance footage and found video of the surfer being knocked off his board.

According to CBS2, officials from the Long Beach State University shark lab were consulted, and they determined the culprit was likely a juvenile great white shark.

No injuries were reported.

City News Service contributed to this article.

The man who was convicted of assaulting then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband in 2022 was re-sentenced to 30 years in prison on Tuesday, with no change in the original sentence after the case was reopened so he could speak during his sentencing hearing, local news reported.

David DePape was originally sentenced to 30 years in prison on May 17 for forcibly entering Pelosi’s home in San Francisco early on Oct. 28, 2022 and clubbing her husband Paul in the head with a hammer in a politically motivated attack.

During the original sentencing, U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley failed to give DePape a chance to address the court, a “clear error” under the federal judicial rules, the judge wrote in a court filing the next day.

She also scheduled a hearing for Tuesday to resolve the issue, allowing DePape to speak on his own behalf. He did, apologizing for the attack, before Corley sentenced him again to 30 years in prison, reported ABC7, a local ABC affiliate in San Francisco.

In November, a jury found DePape guilty of attempting to kidnap a federal officer and assaulting an immediate family member of a federal officer. Prosecutors said the 44-year-old was driven by the far-right conspiracy theories known as QAnon.

Paul Pelosi, 82, suffered skull fractures and other injuries that have continued to affect him, according to a letter filed in court. In addition to dizziness and a metal plate that remains in his head, Pelosi said he has struggled with balance and has permanent nerve damage in his left hand.

Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives at the time of the attack, was in Washington when it occurred.

DePape still faces separate state charges stemming from the Pelosi break-in and attack, including attempted murder. Those charges carry a potential sentence of 13 years to life in prison. He has pleaded not guilty.

A shark knocked a surfer off of his board off the coast of San Clemente Monday, prompting authorities to close the water to swimmers and others on the busy Memorial Day holiday.

According to city officials, the ocean water was closed off late Monday morning “due to confirmed aggressive shark behavior” in the water in the vicinity of T-Street Beach.

The beaches remained open, but water access was closed until at least 8 p.m. Monday, “pending no additional shark sightings,” according to the city.

City Councilman Chris Duncan told CBS2 that surfers reported the activity to lifeguards, who reviewed surveillance footage and found video of the surfer being knocked off his board.

According to CBS2, officials from the Long Beach State University shark lab were consulted, and they determined the culprit was likely a juvenile great white shark.

No injuries were reported.

Updated 6:29 p.m. May 27, 2024

— City News Service

An elderly man and woman were found dead in their Santee home Sunday by San Diego County Sheriff‘s deputies.

The deaths in the 300 block of Lantern Way were reported around 11:25 a.m., according to Lt. Michael Krugh.

Both victims suffered head trauma, Krugh said. Their names were being withheld pending notification to the next of kin.

Krugh said there is no outstanding suspect and no danger to the community.

Anyone with information was asked to call homicide detectives at (858) 285-6330 or after hours at (858) 565-5200, or anonymously contact San Diego County Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

City News Service contributed to this article.

A 67-year-old man was seriously injured when he stepped in front of a truck in the Clairemont Mesa area Monday afternoon.

The collision took place around 2:20 P.M. on Monday at 6900 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, according to the San Diego Police Department.

A 68-year-old man driving a 2012 Ford F-150 truck reportedly struck the pedestrian after he stepped in front of the truck during the vehicle’s right-of-way on the off-ramp of the 805 to Clairemont Mesa Boulevard. .

The victim was taken to a hospital with a fractured skull. His injuries were non life-threatening, and alcohol was not a factor, police said.

Police asked anyone with information related to the collision to call SDPD or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

City News Service contributed to this report.

Firefighters were battling a brush fire that broke out in Lake Morena Monday.

Units were dispatched around 1:30 p.m. on Monday to reports of a fire in a rural camping and fishing area off the Cameron Truck Trail close to the Mexican border, according to Cal Fire officials.

“The blaze was stopped at 5.28 acres. Five abandoned buildings that were used for barns and stables were destroyed,” Cal Fire PIO Captain Brent Pascua told City News Service.

No evacuations or injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire was not immediately known.

Three people suffered smoke inhalation Monday in connection with an apartment fire in the Colina Del Sol neighborhood, the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department said.

The blaze was reported just after 7:30 a.m. at the complex at 4321 Winona Ave. According to an SDFD official, the blaze was limited to one room.

The three people injured were not transported to hospitals for treatment, the official added.

Investigators remained on scene Monday to determine what started the fire.

–City News Service