Shooter made earlier threat

The man who killed himself after shooting the boyfriend of his estranged wife at a Newport Beach apartment complex Wednesday had threatened the boyfriend before, police said Thursday.

Christopher “Heath” Degoei, 31, of Irvine, killed himself with a shotgun at the Huntington Beach Pier after he shot and injured Dustin Noah Campbell, 25, at the Coronado Apartments at 16th Street and Irvine Avenue in Newport Beach.

Degoei fired at Campbell in the apartment complex parking structure at 10 a.m. Wednesday, police said. Campbell, of Murphys, Calif., near Lake Tahoe, survived his injuries and was being treated Thursday at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana.

Degoei reportedly threatened Campbell at a Costa Mesa house party in March, said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Bill Hartford.

“He was obviously quite upset about it to the point where he thought violence was necessary,” Hartford said.

Degoei’s estranged wife, whom police would not identify, was living at the Coronado Apartments at the time of the shooting. It’s unknown why the two men were at the apartment complex Wednesday morning.

Witnesses who live at the complex said they heard three gunshots and the sound of a car speeding away early Wednesday. Neighbors saw the wounded man walking down the parking structure stairs and ran outside to help him before paramedics arrived.

Degoei fled the scene in a silver Jeep Liberty, and police followed him on a low-speed pursuit into Huntington Beach. Just past Main Street in downtown Huntington, Degoei turned the car around and stopped directly in front of the pier.

Police got out of their patrol cars with guns drawn, and witnesses said they heard one shot before police approached the car. Degoei was found dead inside the car.

Police served a search warrant at Degoei’s home in Irvine on Wednesday, looking for additional evidence. No one else is believed to be involved in the shooting, but the investigation in ongoing, Hartford said.

“Every investigation needs to be thoroughly followed up to make sure what we believed happened did happen,” Hartford said.

The Newport apartment complex where the incident began is a safe place to live and residents shouldn’t be concerned, police said.

“Obviously, this is not random crime,” Hartford said.