Man shoots himself on Laguna street

The new year started off with tragedy in Laguna Beach.

A 36-year-old San Pedro man shot himself dead in midtown Laguna after being pulled over by police investigating a drive-by police shooting at about 3 p.m. New Year’s Day, Jan. 1, Sgt. Jason Kravetz said.

The victim, identified as Daniel Armijo, was pulled out of a Silverado pickup truck at the corner of South Coast Highway and Cress Street, taken to South Coast Medical Center and pronounced dead.

Preceeding the deadly shooting, police allege that Armijo pointed a semi-automatic handgun out of the truck window and fired at a Laguna Beach patrol officer before he was pulled over by police. No one was injured, and the bullet was found lodged in the dashboard of the police vehicle.

The self-inflicted gunshot to the head took place outside a popular patio restaurant, where an alert employee quickly evacuated diners to the interior, Kravetz said.

In a related incident, another Laguna Beach officer was apparently fired at by Armijo near Nyes Place on South Coast Highway, about a mile south of the second shooting.

That officer heard loud noises that could have been shots or a car backfiring, Kravetz said. Evidence found later in the vicinity indicates that shots were fired, he added.

No police officers were injured and no shots were fired by police, Kravetz said.

“We have no idea why he did it,” Kravetz said. Armijo was driving a vehicle registered to a family member.