Chaos after man with 'beer in one hand and a gun in the other' shoots up San Diego pool party; one killed

San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman said Monday that race was not a factor in a shooting at a birthday party where witnesses said a gunman never left his poolside chair as he opened fire on seven people, killing one.

The suspect, Peter Selis, 49, shot four black women, two black men and one Latino man Sunday before being killed by police, authorities said. Zimmerman said Selis, who was white, was despondent over a breakup with a girlfriend.

Selis was speaking with his ex-girlfriend on his cellphone during the rampage because he wanted her to hear the carnage, Zimmerman said, adding that Selis’ family knew he was distraught but said there was no indication he would resort to violence.

Zimmerman said all six of those wounded are expected to survive.

A 2015 bankruptcy filing obtained by the San Diego Union-Tribune showed that Selis, who worked at a Ford dealership, also faced massive debts.

A witness who saw the chaos from his apartment window told local TV station KGTV that the shooter appeared calm as he mowed down the victims.

“We could see the shooter sitting there with a beer in one hand and a gun in the other,” the witness, who was not identified, told the station.

“This is truly a horrific act of violence that took place here today,” San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer said at a late-night news conference. “Our entire city, all of our thoughts and prayers, all San Diegans’ thoughts and prayers, are with the victims and their families tonight.”

At a news conference covered by local TV station KSWB, Zimmerman said a police helicopter was the first law enforcement to arrive on the scene. The pilot saw the shooter appear to be reloading his handgun at the pool, Zimmerman said.

Three police officers then approached the pool area and shot Selis dead after he pointed his gun in their direction, the station reported.

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Partygoer Drew Phillips told the Union-Tribune that shortly before the 6 p.m. shooting, a friend who was celebrating his birthday had approached Selis and offered him food and drink, which he declined.

“Six or seven minutes later it’s just pow, pow, pow, pow — out of nowhere,” Phillips told the paper. “...There was no indication that he was there to do evil.”

Phillips said he hopped a fence where he found a man he’d met at the party with a wound in his abdomen.

“He was just laying there, and just the look in his eyes — sheer terror,” Phillips told the paper. “I threw my phone down. I just picked him up and I just carried him. I basically ran as fast as I could with him in my arms.”

Another witness told KSWB that the gunman appeared to be "relaxed" during and after the shooting and was drinking a beer as police approached the area.

Contributing: The Associated Press