A gunman and three hostages were found dead inside the country’s largest veterans home on Friday night after an eight-hour standoff with police.
The gunman, who was known to police but not immediately identified, slipped into a going-away party at the Veterans Home of California in Yountville shortly before 10:30 a.m., Napa County Sheriff John Robertson told reporters.
The suspect, a veteran who had been treated at the facility for post-traumatic stress disorder, held a clinical worker, psychiatrist, and executive director hostage in one room, according to State Sen. Bill Dodd.
Armed with a rifle, the suspect exchanged several rounds of gunfire with a responding officer in a standoff that continued into the night.
When authorities entered the facility around 6 p.m. local time, they found the gunman, along with three women dead inside the 600-acre facility.
It remains unclear at what point during the day they died, since authorities had not spoken to either the gunman or the hostages since 10:30 a.m.
As many as 30 shots rang out near the facility's main dining hall, according to KQED. (JL SOUSA/NAPA VALLEY REGISTER VIA AP)
On Friday morning, the gunman slipped into the facility's Pathway Home, a privately run program treating veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Devereaux Smith said the gunman entered the room quietly, letting some people leave while taking others hostage, her husband Larry Kamer told the Associated Press.
A responding sheriff's deputy received an emergency call and exchanged gunfire with the suspect before the facility was placed on lockdown. The officer was not injured in the shootout.
Fernando Juarez, 36, of Napa, center, embraces his 22-year-old sister Vanessa Flores, right, at the Veterans Home of California on Friday March 9, 2018.(BEN MARGOT/AP)
Authorities were unable to reach the gunman by phone throughout the day, and a tactical team finally entered the facility on Friday night to find four people dead inside.
“This is a tragic piece of news, one that we were really hoping we would not have to come before the public to give,” said CHP Assistant Chief Chris Childs.
A motive has not been established, and Childs said it was "far too early" to say whether the victims were chosen intentionally.
Childs said the gunman's rental car was found in the parking lot. The vehicle was screened for any bombs, but all they found was a cell phone inside.
Jan Thornton was among hundreds of relatives worried sick about their loved ones during the lockdown.
Her 96-year-old father — a WWII fighter pilot — was safe inside a hospital wing but couldn't leave the premises. Thornton said she was worried about how her dad's coping with the stress, considering his age, PTSD and slight dementia.
"(My) heart just bleeds for the people that are being held hostage," Thornton said.
The veterans home, which is roughly 60 miles north of San Francisco and located in the heart of California's wine country, houses about 1,000 aging and disabled veterans of World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Iraq War.
A sheriff's hostage negotiation team passes a California highway patrol checkpoint at the Veterans Home of California in Yountville, Calif. (BEN MARGOT/AP)
- ny news
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