Man fatally shoots wife, adult children in Granada Hills murder-suicide
By Laurie Perez, Danielle Radin
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GRANADA HILLS, California (KCAL) — The Los Angeles Police Department was investigating a deadly shooting at a home in Granada Hills in which a man shot his wife and two children before shooting himself on Saturday.
Investigators say that the shooting happened at around 6:50 p.m. at a home in the 11600 block of Lerdo Avenue, where they arrived to find four people dead.
Arriving officers knocked on the door but no one answered, so they forced entry due to the nature of the 911 call and were met by a witness who directed them to the deceased people, police said.
“Further investigation determined it was a murder suicide,” said a statement from LAPD.
Police say that they found two women and a man shot to death in one room of the house. The shooter was found dead in a different room from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Late Sunday, the Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner identified the victims as Arabella De Leon, 80, Merceditas De Leon, 49 and Rodrigo De Leon, 53. The alleged shooter was also identified as Rodrigo De Leon, 79.
Another family member, a daughter of the couple who reportedly has special needs, is said to have barricaded inside of a room in the home while the tragedy unfolded.
On Sunday, a UPS driver for the area who was acquainted with the family stopped by to leave flowers outside of the home.
“I’ve been on this route for 24 years and I think they’ve been here even longer,” said Fernando Flores. “They seemed like a normal family. … So, obviously anybody would be like, ‘How could that happen?'”
Investigators have still not been able to determine a motive.
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