Police respond to e-mail suicide Heavily armed...

Police respond to e-mail suicide

Heavily armed police responded to what turned out to be a suicide

that was announced via a mass e-mail on Nov. 18.

Francois Dubau, 49, killed himself sometime that day, after he

sent out an e-mail suicide note to an unknown number of people,

including members of the media.

Laguna Beach Police said they first received a phone call from a

friend of Dubau around 4 p.m. alerting them about the e-mail.

Officers wearing protective gear went to Dubau’s apartment, in the

100 block of Cliff Drive, and attempted to talk with him. When Dubau

would not answer the telephone, police said they broke out a window

and tried to yell to him from outside.

“By the time we got there, none of the officers had heard a gun

shot,� said Sgt. Darin Lenyi, of the Laguna Beach Police Department.

Despite the efforts, police said they failed to reach Dubau before

it was too late.

“When we went in the door, he had already shot himself,� Lenyi

said.

Police said they are unsure of the exact time of death and are

awaiting autopsy results. Although unlikely, Lenyi said it is

possible that the shot was muffled or that officers did not hear it

while they were outside the apartment complex.