Marin Independent Journal By Gary Klien gklien@marinij.com @GaryKlien on Twitter
7/20/2014
Two bodies were discovered inside a Sausalito residence early Sunday after police responded to reports of gunfire in the neighborhood.
The bodies were found at about 2:45 a.m. inside 173 San Carlos Ave., a two-story home over a garage in the hills near Spencer Avenue. The residence has a front driveway on San Carlos Avenue and a rear staircase leading up to Santa Rosa Avenue.
The police department said it sent officers to the home after receiving a report of gunshots at 2:38 a.m., but another resident across the street said she heard several sharp bursts at 2:15 a.m. She said she did not call police because she thought the sound might have been firecrackers.
A rear staircase leads from Santa Rosa Avenue down to the home on San Carlos Avenue where Sausalito police found two bodies Sunday, July 20, 2014. (Gary Klien/Marin Independent Journal)
"I heard a loud pop, pop — then a pause — then pop, pop again," said the woman, who declined to be named. "This is Sausalito. You don’t think that anything like that would happen here."
A neighbor who lives behind the residence, on the Santa Rosa Avenue side, said she heard a "bang" two to three times.
"I looked around and saw nothing out of the window," she said.
Sausalito police declined to release details about the two people or their injuries, but described the event as an "isolated incident." Police Chief Jennifer Tejada said there is nothing to indicate the general public is at risk but declined to elaborate with the investigation in progress.
There was no sign of a break-in at the home, she said.
Two pets, a cat and a dog, were inside the home when police went inside. The animals were turned over to the Marin Humane Society.
Marin County sheriff’s detectives, Central Marin police and a coroner’s investigator were assisting in the inquiry.
The coroner’s office did not release the names of the victims pending confirmation and notification of family members.
The case would be the first homicide in the city of Sausalito since 2009, when Chet Turner killed his girlfriend, 46-year-old Avril Clary, at the apartment they shared on Bridgeway. Turner, who slashed the woman in the neck, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and took a 12-year prison sentence.
The homicide before that occurred in 1990, according to California Department of Justice records.
