STUDENTS FIND BODY IN LAKESIDE

Update: The Sheriff's investigation has concluded that this death was a suicide. A man who took the gun, prompting a search, said he did so to prevent students from picking up the weapon.

By Leon Thompson and Miriam Raftery

Photos by Leon Thompson; video by Billy Ortiz

April 3, 2014 (Lakeside) -- High school students walking home from El capitan HIgh School today made a grisly discovery--finding the body of a man who had been shot in an alley behind a laundromat and the KK Market. 

"At first it looked staged, it was so unreal, as if we were watching a movie," Markise Carter (photo, below right), one of the students who found the body, told East County Magazine.  "Then I saw the blood was still running."  Markise said the victim, a young white male perhaps 18 to 25 years old, had a bloody hole in his chest and a puddle of blood in his lap. He was bleeding from his ears, nose and mouth.

Alex Campos said someone in the group called 911 immediately and police "were there in six minutes." Sheriff's deputies responded to 12568 Lakeshore Drive at 1:45 p.m. and found the victim sitting on the ground, unresponsive, with blood on his face and chest. Deputies performced CPR until paramedics arrived. By 2:45 p.m. they had prounced the victim dead. Other students in the group included Adam Genovese and Darrick McPherson. The young witnesses, who said they were allowed to leave school early, were visibly shaken.

A search for a man who took a gun from the scene ensued, prompting lockdown of El Capitan High School, Christian Elementary and Lakeside Elementary School in the vicinity.

It remains unclear whether the shooting was a homicide or suicide, as of this evening. Adding to the confusion, witnesses said a man took a gun from the scene and ran off, prompting a search of the area that later found the gun tossed near Lindo Lake.

The witness who reported the man down said there was a pistol in his lap. While the witness was on the phone with the 911 dispatcher, another man reportelyed walked up and took the istol, clearing the round from the chamber before putting the ugn in his pocket and walking away, said Lieutenanc Glenn Giannantonio with the Sheriff's homicide detail.

Helicopters searched for the individual, described as a white male wearing black clothes and purple shoes, with an injury to his face. The gun was discovered near the scene, close to Lindo Lake. View a video of the gun recovery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fan_4aTrcE

The man who allegedly took the gun has reportedly been taken into custody for questioning.

The Sheriff's homicide detail, crime lab personnel and detectives from the Sheriff's station in Santee are conducting the investigation into the death.

If you have information, call the Sheriff's homicide detal at 858-974-2321 or after hours call 858-565-5200. You can remain anonymous and be eligible for up to a $1,000 reawrd for information leading to an arrest by calling Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.