911 operator credited with helping end Pasadena shooting

PASADENA, Calif. (KABC) -- A 911 operator is credited with helping end a fatal weekend standoff. Three people were killed before the barricaded suspect surrendered Saturday.

Police say the situation was threatening to get worse. The suspect was barricaded inside a house on the 700 block of Summit Avenue at Penn Street.

The calls kept coming as more shots rang out.

One woman said she was caring for eight children when the bullets flew, hitting cars and blowing holes in fences. One bullet came into the bathroom of her home.

The Pasadena Police Department says the suspected gunman is 44-year-old John Izael Smith. In his possession were two AK-47 assault-type rifles, one semiautomatic pistol and 70 rounds of available ammunition.

Investigators say Smith killed 91-year-old Luis Aguiar, his daughter, 59-year-old Maria Teresa Aguiar, and a Good Samaritan who police say came to her aid. Forty rounds were fired in total.

Pasadena Police credits its dispatchers for stopping Smith from shooting more people. Smith phoned the police and made a confession.

"He said, 'I killed someone,'" said dispatcher Diane Marin.

For 20 minutes, SWAT officers outside the home and two dispatchers over the phone negotiated with Smith to surrender.

Smith said he wanted to give up, but police were concerned it could be a trap.

"A suspect in a very critical and dynamic situation will say one thing and do something completely different, and so while Mr. Smith might have indicated that he wanted to surrender, there is no guarantee that might occur," said Pasadena Police Chief Phillip Sanchez.

Smith did give up. The Pasadena Police response spared the neighborhood the risk of an even greater tragedy by avoiding a gunfight.

The officer who was first on the scene did not fire a single shot, even though his own vehicle was struck eight to 11 times.

The SWAT team never fired a shot either.

Smith, who has no criminal record, remained in custody without bail. Police say he owned the weapons legally.

Smith was to be arraigned on multiple murder charges as early as Tuesday.