Hesperia Man Investigated for Child Pornography Shoots and Kills Himself

HESPERIA, Ca. – A Hesperia man who was being investigation for possession of child pornography shot and killed himself as authorities attempted to make contact with him on Thursday.

At around 6:30 a.m. Crimes Against Children Detail detectives arrived at the home in the 16000 block of Orange Street to conduct a search warrant. They knocked at the door and no one answered. After attempting to make contact with Erik Tapia, they used a public address system to get him to exit his home. He did not respond so detectives entered the home. As they entered, they heard a gunshot and found Tapia in a bedroom suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Emergency medical personnel arrived and determined that Tapia was deceased at the scene.

No one else was home at the time of the incident. Detectives from the Specialized Investigations Division responded to conduct the death investigation.

The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Floyd Stone, Specialized Investigations Division – Homicide Detail at (909)387-3589. Callers can remain anonymous and contact WeTip at 800-78CRIME or www.wetip.com.

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