Man found dead after SWAT standoff

A man accused of stabbing his wife in Imperial Beach was found dead after a three-hour SWAT standoff Sunday, a sheriff’s spokeswoman said.

Sheriff’s deputies were called to an apartment complex on Florence Street near Cypress Avenue about a domestic violence incident shortly after noon. When deputies arrived, they found a woman outside suffering from multiple stab wounds, sheriff’s spokeswoman Jan Caldwell said. The victim was taken to a hospital with injuries that weren’t life-threatening.

Deputies determined the woman’s husband, Aurelio Perez, stabbed her in a fight and then locked himself in their apartment, Caldwell said. They tried to persuade him to come out, and eventually called a SWAT team to help take him into custody.

Negotiators attempted to make contact with Perez for hours. When that failed, SWAT team members threw a flash bang and tear gas grenades into the apartment to coax the man out. He didn’t emerge, so a robot and a sheriff’s dog were sent into the apartment to investigate.

Perez’s body could be seen over the robot’s video feed, Caldwell said. A Medical Examiner will determine how the man died, but it appeared to be suicide.

Kelly Tracy, who lives across the street, said he was in his garage when sheriff’s deputies started stationing themselves outside his neighbor’s apartment around noon. He said he had heard yelling from the building in the past, but didn’t hear any fighting Sunday morning before the stabbing.

Deputies had been called to the address before, but Caldwell didn’t say for what.