More Details Emerge After Gunman, Young Mother Die In Highland Barricade Situation

HIGHLAND (CBSLA.com) — A day after a woman was fatally shot and her children taken hostage inside their Highland home, neighbors and friends opened up to CBS2/KCAL9 about the violent encounter.

Friends identified the mother of three as Rosy Mejia, 27, and said she was shot by a relative who barricaded himself inside her home. Her two youngest children, one of whom was a newborn, was inside the home.

A SWAT team spent hours Wednesday afternoon trying to negotiate the family's release.

San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department deputies shot and killed Raphael Mejia after, they said, he threatened to shoot them and his hostages.

Neighbor Sherry Dees saidL "I heard the gunshots. ... I think I heard four."

The mother was airlifted to a hospital, where she died from her injuries. The two children were not harmed.

Family friend Mirna Gutierrez said Rosy's death was a shock: "She was just happy, like three weeks ago ... and now this. It was just something unexpected."

She said Rosy's husband was dealing with the reality that he's now a single dad.

"It's hard for the husband to raise two little girls, plus a newborn," Gutierrez said.

Deputies are investigating the shooting and haven't yet released a motive.