Tonight police still don't know the identity of the burglary suspect who one of their officers shot and killed inside a Los Lagos home yesterday. They have no name but they do have a description and we'll get to that later....But first....more interesting than the identity of John Doe is what he was doing in the Los Lagos home. Police say he had been staying in the house for at least a week, and tonight our 7NEWS team of Fortunato Noble and Keith Swift who've been on the story since yesterday will take you inside the home to show you the strange, strange world that this mystery man had built inside someone else's house. Here's the story.
Keith Swift Reporting, [keithkswift@gmail.com]
An unhinged and now destroyed door, bloodied tiles and mattress, a blown out wall, and even more blood here speak of the violent confrontation between a
now dead burglar and police inside this Los Lagos home.
We know that the burglary suspect entered the home by prying open these burglar bars at the back of the house. He was discovered yesterday by yard cleaners and that is when he barricaded himself inside the house using furniture and domestic elements such as this mattress. He was ordered to come out but refused and so police first used firepower and blew a hole through the front window. That didn't work and even with a key - the officers could not open the door so they entered by stomping in this side door.
Once inside the house the two officers discovered that the burglar had also barricaded himself inside one of the rooms by putting these mattresses against
the windows and bikes against the door. That is when they went to "Plan B" which was first to shoot the lock off this room door, unhinge it, and then bust through. There, they met more barricades in the form of bicycles which were being removed by one of the officers and that is when police say the suspect lunged forward with a shiny object in his hand. They say they had no choice but to shoot.
The male suspect was killed on the spot. With the neighborhood looking on and also the Ombudsman present to ensure transparency, his body was removed from the home around 7:30 pm. His name is not known but we do know that he didn't
just break into 37 Los Lagos yesterday - police say this man was living in the home and re-decorated and rearranged it.
For proof you need only look at this shelf turned shrine in honor of the home owner's honor in the living room. Everything on here, with the exception of the framed picture in the rear and three candles to the top, were put here by the burglar. Her pictures are wiped out to protect her privacy but he put her jewelry, trinkets, small mementos, medicine, and even her plane ticket were placed here as an eerie tribute. And then to one of the bedrooms where he was apparently living. He had a television with Play Station 2 controls, he had re-wired the cable, and for proof that he had taken up residence - here are
ashes from a cigarette and marijuana joint. And in a bizarre twist, in the kitchen he placed this portrait of the last supper over what we could assume was his last meal.
Again the identity of the intruder is still unknown but police describe him as in his early or mid 20s, with a low haircut and about 5 feet 6 inches in height with a "One Love" tattoo on his right arm and "Jah Bless" inscribed on his left arm. Ascertaining an identity has been much harder because he was shot in the face. And while police initially said that the intruder was armed with a shiny object resembling a knife police now say that shiny object was a gun and more than that it is a rusty gun, a point 25 revolver which they recovered from the scene. An internal investigation has been ordered.
Meanwhile we understand the owner of the house is on her way back to Belize. Police and the family stress there was no relation but we note that a key was found on the John Doe.
