A 52-year-old man killed his wife and teenage daughter before taking his life in a shooting inside a Los Angeles County home Thursday morning, authorities said.
Around 8 a.m., sheriff’s deputies from Los Angeles County responded to a report of a deadly weapon assault at a home in Lakewood, which is roughly 20 miles southeast of Los Angeles. A caller told dispatchers that her father had shot a gun at her and was unconscious nearby, according to deputies.
When deputies arrived, they met the caller, a 19-year-old woman, outside her residence. She was not wounded and was brought in for questioning.
Deputies discovered a man lying on the floor of the den with a gunshot wound to his upper torso. Hector Lionel Alfaro, 52, was identified as both the father and the shooter.
Deputies then located Alfaro’s 48-year-old wife, Roxana Rodriguez, in a bedroom with gunshot wounds to the body. Deputies discovered the couple’s 17-year-old daughter, Sienna Alfaro, who had also been shot. All three were pronounced deceased on the scene.
“Through investigation, Homicide Investigators learned gunshots were heard within the residence by Alfaro’s 19-year-old daughter while she was asleep,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement obtained by FOX11 Los Angeles. “Alfaro then appeared near her armed with a handgun and shot at her several times; however, she was not struck by the gunfire. Alfaro then shot himself while standing near his 19-year-old daughter.”
Two firearms were retrieved from the house.
Authorities have not determined a motive. The investigation is underway.
“Our hearts are broken as we share the tragic loss of a loving mother and her daughter, whose lives were taken by an act of unimaginable violence,” wrote Andrew, the husband to the couple’s eldest daughter Desiree, in a GoFundMe post. “This devastating loss has left behind their surviving children, who are now facing the world without the people who meant everything to them.”
Hazel Ferman, Sienna’s soccer teammate, described her buddy as “a ray of sunshine” at a candlelight vigil on Saturday, according to KABC-TV.
“She’s a very jolly person,” Ferman said. “Her smile would bright up the room. Her energy was just out of this world, man like she would walk in, even though she’s a shy girl, when she would smile is like everybody knew that we just connected.”
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