An Escondido police officer who was investigating the death of a 70-year-old woman Friday morning fatally shot her son after he threatened the officer with a handgun, police said.

Damon Seitz, 40, had been talking with officers for nearly an hour before he pulled out the gun, police Lt. Justin Murphy said.

The officer fired three or four times, and Seitz died later at a hospital, Murphy said.

The incident occurred in a cul-de-sac on James Street near Valley Parkway shortly before 8 a.m.


Fatal officer-involved shootings in San Diego County, 1980-2017 »

Murphy said police got a call at 6:48 a.m. from someone reporting that the woman had died while “unattended,” or alone.

He said the death of Elizabeth “Betty” Seitz was not considered suspicious.

Officers arrived at the house shortly after 7 a.m., and her son was there, Murphy said.


About 45 minutes later, when only one of the officers was inside the home, Seitz reportedly got out the gun and threatened the officer.

“(Officers) had been conversing with the man in the house the entire time they were on scene,” Murphy said. “For whatever reason, the person decided they were going to brandish a firearm and threaten the officer.”

He said two other officers were outside at the time.

They started CPR on Seitz until medics arrived.


The shooting was a few blocks from Orange Glen Elementary School, which was not affected by the police incident.

Murphy said there was no history of trouble at the home.

Escondido police Chief Craig Carter said the week has been a challenging one for homicide investigators.

On Tuesday night, Catherine Kennedy, 55, was shot and killed by a stray bullet on East Grand Avenue as she drove down the street as a man was firing a gun at someone across the way.


Police believe gang members are responsible for Kennedy’s death. No arrests have been announced.

“It’s been hard on the department, but the underlying goal of making sure we investigate these things fully is the driving force right now,” Carter said. “Everybody’s putting 100 percent in, and my job is to make sure they are all holding it together and doing well.”

He met Friday morning with the husband of Catherine Kennedy to discuss the progress of that case.

In the afternoon, he met with the family of Damon and Elizabeth Seitz.


“We recognize that there are people behind this (incident) that somebody loves and we want to make sure we express our concern as well,” Carter said.