LOCAL : Despondent at Loss of Job, Reseda Man Kills Self at Police Station

A Reseda man who was despondent over losing his job walked nearly a mile from his home to a Los Angeles police station where he fatally shot himself this morning on the building’s front steps, authorities said.

Front desk officers at the West Valley Division in the 19000 block of Vanowen Avenue heard the shot and saw the man drop to the pavement outside the glass front doors about 2 a.m.

The officers ducked to safety thinking someone was shooting at the station, but later determined the man, identified as Alan Matta, 21, had shot himself with a rifle. He was taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center where he died about an hour later, police said.

The incident was still under investigation but police said it appeared the man became despondent over losing a job and left the house he shared with his mother and stepfather.