Daily Trojan Online
Local News
August 31, 2004
Glendale man commits suicide: Vanik Tergalstyan barricaded himself in
a friend’s apartment and shot himself in the chest after the police
used tear gas in an attempt to force him out, the Los Angeles Times
reported.
Tergalstyan was taken to County-USC Medical Center where he was
pronounced dead Monday morning. Police said the man had a criminal
history and was involved in a stalking situation with the women who
occupied the apartment.
The standoff started at 12:30 a.m. Monday near Dorian Street and
Pacific Avenue and continued for eight hours.
Police said they attempted to negotiate with Tergalstyan for six hours,
but he was uncooperative.
About 100 people in a surrounding hotel, apartment building and other
homes were evacuated just after 1 a.m.
The police also evacuated part of Pacific Avenue and the access roads
to the Ventura Freeway for nine hours disrupting morning traffic.