Citing a recent string of violent incidents on the reservation, the San Jacinto City Council is asking the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians to halt its proposed annexation of hundreds of acres the tribe wants to use to build a hotel and casino complex.

The May 20 letter, signed by Mayor Jim Ayres, said the city would be forced to "actively oppose the application" if the tribe did not withdraw its request for the federal government to add the 535 acres to the reservation.

"Unless the City Council can be assured that the residents of San Jacinto, the public who would be visiting the Reservation, and the Tribe's own residents of their personal safety, the City Council believes that any expansion of the Reservation would be inappropriate," the letter stated.

Rose Salgado, a member of the Soboba Tribal Council, said Wednesday that the letter was received Tuesday and the full council has not had an opportunity to compose a response. She said the panel will meet today to discuss the matter.

"Personally, it took me by surprise," Salgado said.

The U.S. Department of the Interior must approve the tribe's proposal -- a detailed process that can take several years and requires community input.

Relations between the 900-member tribe and the Riverside County Sheriff's Department have been strained since two fatal shooting incidents in which three tribal members died.

On May 12, deputies killed Joseph Arres, 36, and Tamara Angela Hurtado, 29, in a gunbattle in a remote part of the reservation. The two tribal members were shot multiple times by SWAT officers, who said they had been fired upon by one of the two. Nine deputies fired their weapons in that incident, authorities said.

Four days earlier, deputies shot and killed 26-year-old Eli Morillo after they went to investigate gunfire on a remote part of the reservation and found themselves under attack, authorities said. Five deputies fired in the first shooting.

Ayres said the City Council met in special closed session May 15 to discuss the recent violence and voted 4-0 to draft the letter. Councilman Robert Richie was absent.

Until now, Ayres said, the council had not taken a position on the proposed annexation, although months ago, the city did send a seven-page letter that outlined some issues it wanted addressed.

The city changed its mind, he said, after the shootings and the subsequent response from tribal leadership, which was critical of the Sheriff's Department.

"There seems to be real public safety issues that need to be addressed," Ayres said.

He said the city supports the Sheriff's Department, which contracts with San Jacinto for law enforcement services.

Ayres said he does not want it to appear as if the City Council and the tribe's leadership are "butting heads," but he added that things will not change until the tribe "gets their house in order."

Tribal officials and Sheriff's Department administrators have met twice since the shootings, hoping to open lines of communication, and they plan to meet again early next month.

The tribe wants to annex hundreds of acres of land that it owns along Soboba Road, northwest of Lake Park Drive, to its 3,171-acre reservation east of San Jacinto. An annexation is needed to give the land federal trust status so a casino can be built on it. The new casino would replace the tribe's existing gambling facility.

The tribe has said it wants to build a 90,000-square-foot casino with a 70,000-square-foot gaming floor as well as a 300-room hotel, a multilevel parking garage, a tribal fire station and other amenities.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs, which is part of the Interior Department, held a public meeting on the annexation request in January and heard concerns and complaints from dozens of residents who live near the property in question. Officials from the federal agency were at another reservation Wednesday and couldn't be reached for comment.

While the public comment period for the proposed annexation has ended, City Manager Barry McClellan said the city could make its position known should the tribe proceed with its application.

Ayres said he and Sheriff Stanley Sniff are meeting today with residents of the Soboba Springs Mobile Estates and others who live nearby to discuss the city's letter to the tribe. Residents of the park and the surrounding area have voiced concerns about the tribe's plans. Sniff will also talk about his department and its law enforcement responsibilities, Ayres said.