A Long Beach firefighter is shot dead during a shootout in a senior citizens residence

LONG BEACH, California (KABC) –

A 45-year-old fire captain died and another firefighter is in a stable state after being shot and wounded when an armed gunman opened fire on Monday morning in a senior's home in Long Beach.

Firefighters said the deceased firefighter was Captain David Rosa of the Long Beach Fire Department at Fire Station 10. The husband and father of two children had been members of the fire department for 17 years.

Authorities responded to the 11-story Manor covenant in E. Block E. 600 Street in the city's downtown at around 4am following reports of an explosion and a fire.

Responding firefighters discovered a fire in the facility, windows were turned off and sprinklers were activated – all of which smelled like gas. After extinguishing the fire, firefighters searched the building and fired shots, officials said the Long Beach Fire Department.

There were reports of an active shooting situation among the chaos but officials later confirmed the incident was treated as a shooting.

Firefighters said two firefighters were shot and wounded. Rosa was in critical condition and the other suffered nonfatal injuries. Rosa was declared dead at St. Mary's Medical Center.

The identity of the surviving firefighter was not released. Firefighters said that he had remained in a stable state.

"Very saddened this morning, Monday morning for all of us, our fire department and our police department are brothers and sisters, which is hugely striking," said Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna. .

Police Sgt Brad Johnson said that another person had also been injured and hospitalized. He has been described as being in critical condition and in surgery.

Police said that a person of interest was detained and that a weapon was recovered. The shooting was treated as a homicide investigation.

The investigators also sought to find out if the incident was an ambush. They added that devices deemed suspect were also located.

"You go to these scenes and you never know what's on the other side of these doors, these brave firefighters have gone through those doors and unfortunately they've been greeted with gunshots ", added Luna.

The residents of the skyscraper were evacuated and the surrounding streets were closed.