The sister of a man suspected of fatally shooting his parents Friday morning in a quiet Point Loma neighborhood said her brother suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.
A man identified by numerous neighbors as 22-year-old Peter Haynes was arrested hours after he’s accused of killing his mother and father in Point Loma and forcing a neighborhood to go into lockdown.
His sister told NBC 7 that her brother is severely mentally ill. She had posted a picture two weeks ago on her Facebook page with her brother showing her how to hold a gun.
Kimberly Haynes doesn’t see the photo as troubling — instead, she sees it as a bonding moment between her and her brother.
“It’s very difficult to get close to him and one of the ways he and I connect is by teaching each other how to bond,” Haynes said.
Early Friday morning, police and SWAT officers converged on the neighborhood surrounding Catalina Boulevard and Verona Street for hours searching for the suspect. Four blocks of homes near the shooting were in lockdown much of the morning.
The suspect was found walking down a nearby street and taken into custody. Police said they found a semi-automatic handgun in his pocket.
The situation started just after 3 a.m. when officers received a 911 call about a shooting at a home in the 1000 block of Tarento Boulevard.
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Responding officers found the door to the home ajar and a man and woman who had suffered multiple gunshot wounds inside, said San Diego police Lt. Paul Rorrison.
Several neighbors identified the victims as Lissa and David Haynes.
The Haynes were rushed to the hospital but died there, Rorrison said.
Residents on Friday morning expressed shock that their quiet, safe neighborhood would be the scene of a shooting.
"I'm a little shocked. This doesn't usually happen in Point Loma," said neighbor Tyler Sinks.
Another resident, who wished to remain anonymous, described it as a close-knit neighborhood.
"We all know each other," she said. "We all walk our dogs here."
Peter Haynes' father, David Haynes, lived in Point Loma but worked as an emergency room doctor in Yuma.
Public documents show he graduated from medical school in Nebraska and specialized in surgery and emergency medicine at University of California Irvine and Harbor-UCLA Medical Centers.
Dr. Haynes' father, Vital Haynes, was a well-known doctor in San Diego, and his two brothers are also physicians.
Peter Haynes has been booked into the San Diego Central Jail on two counts of first-degree murder. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Dec. 3.
A motive in the shooting also not been released.
