More details have emerged in a shooting that left three dead inside a Lakewood home on Thursday, with authorities saying a man allegedly killed his wife and youngest daughter before turning the gun on himself.
Deputies responded to the 5800 block of Lorelei Avenue around 8 a.m. Thursday, after receiving a call reporting an assault with a deadly weapon, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The caller said her father had shot at her and was lying near her on the floor unconscious.
When deputies arrived, they spoke with the 19-year-old woman, who told authorities that her father had shot at her. The woman, who was unharmed, was then taken to the Lakewood sheriff’s station.
After deputies entered the home, they found a man lying on the floor with a gunshot wound to his upper torso. Authorities identified him as Hector Lionel Alfaro, 52.
Soon afterward, deputies located a 48-year-old woman, later identified as Alfaro’s wife, in a bedroom with gunshot wounds to her torso. In another bedroom, they found a 17-year-old girl, Alfaro’s youngest daughter, with a gunshot wound to her upper torso.
Alfaro, his wife and youngest daughter were pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities have not given a motive for the crime.
The 19-year-old woman, identified by authorities as Alfaro’s eldest daughter, told investigators she woke up to the sound of gunshots. She said her father then appeared near her armed with a handgun and shot at her several times, but did not strike her.
Alfaro then shot himself while standing near his eldest daughter, according to the sheriff’s department.
In a press conference after the shooting, Lt. Daniel Vizcarra, of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau, said the 19-year-old was “extremely distraught” as she ran out of the house.
In a statement to CBS LA, Alfaro’s eldest daughter called her mother “the most incredible woman I know.” The young woman told the outlet that her mother and two sisters were “my entire world.”
Two firearms were found at the scene and the investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.
