A Scream in the Dark

At approximately 3:15 a.m. on Wednesday, June 3, residents of Bella Vista apartments in El Cajon awoke to the incoherent screams of a man in the parking lot. Before residents went to check on the man they saw lying on the pavement, 911 was called.

The victim was a Latino male of approximately 30 years of age, found facedown in a small pool of blood and breathing heavily. He may have been suffering a heart attack.

While waiting for officers to arrive, the man stopped breathing. Police officers used a bag valve mask to assist the man with his breathing until paramedics and a fire unit arrived. Paramedics began CPR and administered at least one shock via defibrillator before transporting the man to Grossmont hospital. El Cajon police reported that the man was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The apartment manager said the man had a history of heart trouble and had been told by his doctor not to drink alcohol The manager said the man drank late into the night with friends. At some point he drove away from the apartment complex and then, on his return, suffered what was likely a heart attack.