A body was discovered Tuesday afternoon inside a downtown Davis hotel room where a strange odor triggered a hazardous-materials response.
“We’re investigating it as a suspected suicide at this point,” Lt. Paul Doroshov said of the adult male found inside the second-floor room at the Best Western University Lodge, 123 B St.
While it was not immediately clear when the man had died, his remains were not believed to be the source of the gas-like odor, which first was detected at about 12:30 p.m.
“The smell was some kind of man-made thing. What it is we won’t know until they test it in a lab,” Doroshov said.
Though it will be up to Yolo County coroner’s officials to determine the man’s cause and manner of death, “at this point in the investigation, we don’t believe that anyone else was involved in this incident, or that there were any other intentional victims,” Doroshov added.
According to Doroshov, it was Davis Fire Department that first received a report of “some kind of gas smell” emanating from one of the University Lodge rooms. Hotel staff attempted to open the door to the room, but the security latch was engaged.
Multiple police and fire crews from Davis and UC Davis responded to the scene. The hotel was evacuated and two blocks of B Street shut off to traffic while a hazmat crew was summoned to determine the source and nature of the odor.
“We’ve just been standing out here for a couple of hours now,” Matthew Morris, the hotel’s manager, said as he stood on the northeast corner of Second and B streets with his fellow employees. “They haven’t told us anything.”
About 20 workers and guests were affected by the evacuation, Morris said. He noted that someone had checked into the second-floor room the day before and was supposed to have checked out at 11 a.m. Tuesday, but apparently never did.
Shortly before 3 p.m., several police officers entered a second-story room with their guns drawn, only to quickly retreat. They entered a second time, but again only briefly.
“At this point we’ve determined there is a gaseous hazardous material in that room,” Doroshov said afterward. “They’re going to let it air out and send in a crew with hazmat suits to get another reading.”
About a half-hour later, Doroshov confirmed that a body had been found.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @LaurenKeene