Four Suspects Identified at La Jolla Shooting, SDPD Investigates

A biotech executive who helmed several startup companies is accused of embarking on an early morning rampage through a La Jolla neighborhood on Wednesday, according to UT San Diego.

The suspect was reported to have shot and wounded two men - one is his former business partner and the other one is an estranged brother-in-law. He was later on subdued by a blow to the head. The victims, prominent UC San Diego cancer biologist Steven Dowdy, 53, and real estate investor Ron Fletcher, 50, were hospitalized for gunshot wounds and are expected to survive.

The suspect, Hans A. Petersen, 49, who lives in University City, was treated for head injuries and arrested on suspicion of attempted homicide, shooting into an occupied building and burglary. He is being held without bail.

San Diego police Lt. Kevin Mayer said the investigation has revealed potential motives behind the attacks but said more details would be released Thursday. Police were working to obtain at least one search warrant Wednesday night.

The violence began about 3 a.m., when Dowdy was awakened at his home on Waverly Avenue near Bird Rock Avenue by the sound of gunfire, police said. When he got up, a bullet pierced a French door window, striking him in the lower back. His sleeping wife was not injured. The shooter was last seen running away through a back alley.

Public records show Petersen at one time lived in the one-story bungalow-style home next-door to Dowdy, and both were investors in a bio pharmaceutical company that filed for bankruptcy last year.