‘I still can’t believe it’ Resident reacts to roommate murder in Cathedral City apartment

The investigation continues after a man allegedly murdered his roommate in Cathedral City on Monday night.

The suspect, 39-year-old man, has been arrested.

Firefighters were called to the scene around 10:24 p.m. after receiving a medical aid call at the Cathedral Town Villas Apartments.

Police say a man was found dead in his bed with obvious signs of trauma to his head and neck.

“Determined that they're suspicious in nature, our detectives rolled out and went upon their investigation determined was actually a homicide," said Commander Julio Luna with the Cathedral City Police Department.

Police tell us the suspect is the roommate of the victim.

“I was shocked. I still can't believe it," said resident Raul De La Rosa.

De La Rosa has lived in the Cathedral Town Villas Apartments for years. He tells us he could not believe what happened just one floor below him.

“Especially here. Everybody here's a community. We got kids that live here. That's the first time I've ever seen that in the way it would happen," he explained. "We always hung out together. He used to watch football games with me. Now I'm like, wow, what the hell just happened?”

Police say the suspect was arrested after questioning. De La Rosa he remembers seeing his neighbor, the suspect, trying to flee the scene.

“They went in and come back down, asked where is the guy that lives here and I had to go get him. He was outside trying to run when he got to put him back back. So we weren't going to where to find out what's going on," De La Rosa explained.

He says the complex is usually all peace and quiet.

“You got a bunch of children here. You got single women with kids. You got older people, you know, it's really it's a nice place,” said De La Rosa.

Police also say it’s not a crime they would expect to see there, especially since it happened just a block away from the police department.

“On this particular case, it's extremely odd that something like this could happen... for the most part, there's their senior assisted living there. We don't get a lot of calls for service there. So this is completely out of the out of nowhere,” Commander Luna added.

The suspect is being held on $1 million bail. No word yet on a motive.

Stay with News Channel 3 for updates.