Three firefighters injured while battling blaze, body found

Wednesday December 18, 2002

LOS ANGELES (AP) A distraught man who apparently set his home ablaze early Tuesday opened fire on a group of firefighters arriving to douse the flames, then committed suicide, authorities said.

One firefighter was wounded and two others were cut by flying glass.

The shooting took place as firefighters responded to a report of a house ablaze in the San Fernando Valley. Firefighter Yandell Bishop of Los Angeles was entering the back yard when he was struck in the abdomen.

``I'm in shock, I've been hit,'' the 42-year-old firefighter recalled saying.

``I'm thinking I've got too much of a career left. I don't want to die like this,'' he told reporters from his hospital bed.

The eight-year veteran was taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Capt. Ronald Grey, a 34-year veteran, and Engineer Don Matthews, a 22-year veteran, suffered cuts from a blast that shattered a fire engine's windshield. They were treated at Granada Hills Hospital and released.

About five hours after the blaze, a bomb squad found the body of an older man along with a shotgun, handgun and rifle inside a shed. Authorities were withholding the man's name pending notification of his family.

``One or more of the three firearms recovered within close proximity of the decedent are believed to have been fired at the responding firemen,'' a police statement read.

Family members told investigators the man and his wife were separated and were engaged in a ``prolonged and adversarial divorce,'' police said.

Before the fire, another home owned by the same man was also set ablaze, police said, adding that a recent court ruling mandating that one of the homes be sold may have precipitated the arson.

The second fire, reported less than an hour before the other blaze, was extinguished in about 25 minutes, officials said.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)