EXCLUSIVE: Victim called police from hotel room

Kevin Park dialed “911” three minutes before he died, as Laguna Beach police officers converged on the bungalow room at the Montage Resort & Spa on April 22 where his wife had just allegedly threatened guests with a gun, Sgt. Jason Kravetz revealed Wednesday.

The call, at 7:49 a.m., from Room 7041 at the oceanfront hotel, was made nine minutes after the first 911 call from security personnel at the hotel reporting that a woman was running around on the beach brandishing a weapon, Kravetz said.

Two police officers fired rounds into the room at 7:52 a.m. after allegedly observing the woman, Joni Park, point a handgun at officers. Kevin Park then got the gun away from his wife, but also allegedly pointed it at the officers, Kravetz said.

Police responded in force to the hotel after receiving nearly half a dozen calls from panicked beachgoers and guests, who reported that a woman, sometimes described as naked, was pointing a gun and threatening to shoot people.

Joni Park was seen variously on the beach, in a parking garage and on a public park pathway that rings the hotel.

By the time police arrived, a crowd had converged in the area, and Joni Park was seen running into the hotel room she shared with her husband.

Officers responded with guns drawn and commanded the woman to come out of the room, but she did not, Kravetz said.

“Not only was she aiming at police, but there were a lot of people around,” Kravetz said. “At some point, both Joni and Kevin Park had the gun and pointed it at officers.”

There was no time to use other means to subdue the couple, such as tasers or tear gas, he added.

The couple’s 17-year-old son was also at the location, but Kravetz said he was not in the room at the time of the shooting.

In contrast to reports that Joni Park was naked, she was dressed in a flowered dress when she was found dead in the room after the shooting stopped, Kravetz said.