A California father fatally shot his wife and daughter before he opened fire at his elder daughter – and missed – before taking his own life.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies have said they responded to the 5800 block of Lorelai Avenue in the suburb of Lakewood around 8am on Thursday after receiving a call about an assault with a deadly weapon.
The caller reported that her father had fired the weapon at her and he was lying on the floor unconscious.
When deputies then arrived at the scene, the woman, who has since been identified as 19-year-old Desiree Alfaro, told authorities that she had been sleeping and woke up to the sound of gunshots.
She said her father, 52-year-old Hector Lionel Alfaro, soon appeared before her with a handgun and shot at her several times – but fortunately, the bullets all missed her.
At that point, Desiree said, her father shot himself in front of her.
She was left ‘extremely distraught’ as she ran out of the house, Lt Daniel Vizcarra, of the LA County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau, said at a news conference.
Meanwhile, deputies entered the home, where they found Hector lying on the floor with a gunshot wound to his upper torso.
They soon also located 48-year-old Roxana Rodriguez, Alfaro’s wife, in a bedroom with a gunshot wound to her torso, and in another bedroom, they found 17-year-old Sienna Alfaro with a gunshot wound to her upper torso.
They were all pronounced dead at the scene.
It remains unclear what may have driven Hector to commit the grisly murder-suicide, leaving distraught family members with uncomfortable questions.
‘It’s hard to process,’ Jorge Fuentes, Hector’s brother-in-law, told NBC Los Angeles.
‘It’s pain, anger, hard to understand how a person that’s supposed to be a protector and a father to those girls would have done something so hideous.’
As the investigation into the fatal shooting now continues, family and community members have gathered to share their love for the victims.
‘My mom, Roxana, was a devoted mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend,’ Desiree said in a statement to CBS News.
‘To know her was to love her. She was the most incredible woman I know.
‘I’m at a loss for words on how much she meant to me. She was my entire world, her and my sisters.’
Desiree also expressed her grief for her youngest sister, Sienna, whose friends called her Lilly.
She said they were best friends and that Lilly was ‘so, so loved by her friends, her family, babies, animals – you name it.’
‘She had the sweetest, kindest and most nurturing soul.’
Those who played soccer with Lilly at Beach Futbol Club also described her as ‘a ray of sunshine.’
‘She’s a very jolly person,’ teammate Hazel Ferman said at a candlelight vigil, according to ABC 7.
‘Her smile would brighten up the room. Her energy was just out of this world, like, she would walk in, even though she’s a shy girl, when she would smile is like everybody knew that we just connected.’
An online fundraiser has been set up to support Hector and Roxana’s surviving children who it says are ‘now facing the world without the people who meant everything to them.’
Funds that are donated will be used to help with funeral services, counseling, living expenses and ‘creating some stability during an incredibly painful time.
‘Any donation, no matter the size, and even sharing this page, is a way to show love, support and remind them they are not alone.’
As of Sunday, it had raised nearly $90,000 for the family.
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