Updated: SWAT officers find two dead in Seal Beach apartment

Seal Beach Police Department
TV news crews wait as the investigation continues on Seventh Street in Seal Beach. Photo by Charles M. Kelly

About 2 a.m., Monday, July 17, SWAT officers entered an apartment on the 100 block of Seventh Street and found two dead individuals, according to Sgt. Michael Henderson, public information officer for the Seal Beach Police Department.

The dead individuals were identified late afternoon Monday, July 17, as Amanda Jensen, 37, the city clerk for Westminster, and Rick Moore, 49, a Seal Beach resident and a Los Alamitos Police captain.

They both suffered gunshot wounds but the details of what exactly happened inside the apartment are still being investigated, according to a press release sent out on Monday Sgt. Henderson.

Representatives of Interval House have speculated that domestic violence may have been at the root of the events leading up to the two deaths.

In light of the recent shootings, Interval House will hold a Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention Workshop from 4 to 5 p.m., Monday, July 31, at the First United Methodist Church in Seal Beach. To RSVP or for more info: (562) 594-9492 or admin@intervalhouse.org.

Speakers will include DV survivors, law enforcement, and DV experts.

According to the Orange County Coroner’s website, both apparently died around 7:20 p.m., Sunday.

However, an official time of their deaths has not been established by either an autopsy or investigators. The early morning discovery followed a roughly six-and-a-half-hour barricade situation near Seventh Street and Central Avenue in Old Town.

911 called at 7:20 p.m.

According to Henderson, West Cities Police Communications, the local 911 dispatch center, received a call at about 7:20 p.m., Sunday, July 17, from a woman requesting police assistance.

The line disconnected.

Police officers went to Seventh Street, where Moore had an apartment.

There, witnesses told responding officers that they had heard gunshots. Officers contained the area. SWAT was called in. The West County SWAT Team is a regional Special Weapons and Tactics Team serving the cities of Seal Beach, Los Alamitos, Westminster, Cypress, and Fountain Valley.

About two dozen people were reportedly evacuated from the apartment building .

Police and television helicopters flew over the area. According to news reports, police advised residents in the area to remain inside their homes. Sgt. Henderson updated the press at the scene at regular intervals until about 11 p.m., but he said that he could say little about the on-going barricade because he didn’t want to compromise the safety of SWAT officers.

“We are treating this as a barricade situation,” he said. He said there had been no communication with the people inside the location since the police received reports of shots being fired.

SWAT reportedly used a robot during one of the attempts to find out what was going on inside the apartment.

After multiple attempts to contact the people inside the apartment, the SWAT team went in.

Henderson said he could not confirm or deny information that was appearing about the situation on social media. Henderson told the Sun this was an on-going criminal investigation.

TV news vans and Orange County Sheriff’s Department Crime Scene vans lined Seventh Street Monday morning as law enforcement continued investigating what happened.

A Dodge, tentatively identified by neighbors as belonging to Moore, was being towed from the rear of the apartment building where he lived. Television camera crews recorded the removal of the car while neighbors and newspaper reporters watched.

According to news reports, neighbors have said Moore and Jensen argued frequently.

Seal Beach Police updated city officials Monday morning.

The names of the deceased were not made public until late afternoon Monday, after their families were notified.

It has been confirmed that the weapon used in the shootings was a privately owned gun and not an official law enforcement issued weapon. Police are asking anyone with information about the two deaths to contact Seal Beach Police Detective Jeff Gibson at 562-799-4100 Ext. 1109.

Rick Moore biography

Capt. Rick Moore was the Los Alamitos Police Department’s Operations commander, a member of the Precious Life Shelter’s Board of Directors, and an adjunct faculty/recruit training officer at Golden West College Criminal Justice Training Center, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Amanda Jensen biography

In addition to her 11-year career with the City of Westminster, Amanda Jensen was a troop leader at the Girl Scouts of Orange County and also served as an event chair for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life in the city, according to her LinkedIn profile.

The Los Alamitos Police Department has issued a statement about the Seventh Street deaths. To read the statement, click on http://bit.ly/2uc1m0U

The Sun will update this story as it develops.