SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) — Details emerged Monday about the man who opened fire on two San Diego police officers in the College Area Saturday night.
The shooter – identified as 28-year-old Joe Darwish was found dead inside an apartment. The two officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Walls ripped apart and shredded, broken mirrors and drug paraphernalia are shown inside Darwish's condo in photos as recent as 2017.
Monday afternoon San Diego police identified Darwish as the suspect who shot two officers after they responded to his unit for reports of a "violent disturbance" late Saturday night.
Darwish was later be found dead inside.
"He would like punch holes in the walls in the hallway and they would hear a lot of loud noise and screaming coming from his unit," said a neighbor who wished not to be identified.
Neighbors described Darwish as a "ticking time bomb" who terrorized the tenants living near the condo he owned with his mother.
"My neighbors and I were just talking, 'Is it going to take something catastrophic you know before he gets locked up?' We kept feeling like something bad was going to happen," said the neighbor.
Pictures showing the inside of Darwish's trashed condo were actually entered into evidence as part of a harassment and assault case in which Darwish was convicted of assaulting two of his neighbors.
But after the charges were dropped from felony to misdemeanor Darwish was sentenced to time served and three years' probation - allowing him to return to the complex.
Neighbors said they were not surprised that the incident with Darwish took place. One said when they heard gunshots they immediately thought it was Darwish.
Both officers involved in the shooting were hit multiple times.
Police say Francisco Roman, a three-year veteran remains in the hospital in stable condition and Dan Bihum, an 18-year veteran, was released from the hospital Monday.
"I am so sad for those officers," said Darwish's neighbor. "I had hoped that he would've got the help that he needed or [been] taken somewhere that he was safe from himself and others way before this happened."
A GoFundMe page has been established to help Roman and his family with his recovery needs.
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