Returning later in the afternoon, they asked a security officer for information, “and he said, ‘You’d be better off listening to the news.’ ”Ī homicide investigation continued late into the evening. “We thought maybe there was a bomb threat,” Brakebill said. A nearby day-care center for tribal members and casino and commission staff members was evacuated.įor those in the casino, the first hint that something was amiss was a helicopter circling about 10:30 a.m., said Ron Brakebill, 66, of Phoenix, who had been staying at the Barona hotel since Sunday with his wife, Pam.ĭriving out to Interstate 8 shortly afterward, they noticed a large number of police cars pouring into the Barona reservation.

It was not known then if either was alive.Ĭasino patrons were not evacuated during the incident at the office, in a separate building behind the casino. Gore said authorities confirmed within an hour of the shooting that at least one person was still inside with the shooter. “It has been a very traumatic day for all of them.” “Obviously they’re very distraught,” Gore said.

The unharmed employees who fled were very shaken, he said. Gore said it was only a matter of moments from when Roberts entered the building to when he fired his gun. “Our worst fears were confirmed,” Sheriff Bill Gore said at 4 p.m.

after authorities had failed to reach anyone inside over several hours and after they had detonated a flash-bang grenade. Two knee-high robots on tractor wheels discovered the bodies in the manager’s office at 2:33 p.m. Later, an FBI negotiator arrived as well.Īfter about 4½ hours, authorities established that Roberts, 38, and a man whom authorities declined to identify lay dead inside, a murder-suicide. They included the county Sheriff’s Department, the California Highway Patrol and tribal security from the Barona Indian Reservation near Lakeside. The main resort entrance was closed for about an hour as dozens of law enforcement officers responded.

The time wasn’t yet 10 a.m., and the Barona Resort & Casino grounds were already bustling with business. Three or four shots were heard as more than a dozen other employees hurried out a back door. Inside, he told three secretaries to leave and headed into a manager’s office. Surveillance video captured the closing moments of Donnell Roberts’ life as the former employee sped up to the office in his truck, braked violently, grabbed a shotgun from the back and barreled into the entrance, the gun slung over his shoulder. (Union-Tribune file photo / 2003)Ī man who was fired from a job with the Barona Gaming Commission last month shot and killed a manager in a commission office and then himself yesterday, authorities said. Aerial view of Barona Casino in Lakeside.

Indian gaming commission barona casino