Granada Hills man, 79, and the family members police say he killed are identified
Four Granada Hills residents who died over the weekend in a suspected triple homicide and suicide have been identified by the L.A. County medical examiner.
Authorities still have not released a motive in what one officer called a “horrific” incident.
Just before 7 p.m. Saturday, Los Angeles police responded to a call from a home on Lerdo Avenue, in the foothills of the Santa Susana Mountains, where they found the body of an older man, his wife and two of their adult children.
Police said the family patriarch — identified in medical examiner records as 79-year-old Rodrigo De Leon — killed himself after killing Arabella De Leon, 80; Merceditas De Leon, 49; and Rodrigo De Leon, 53.
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The medical examiner listed the septuagenarian’s death as a suicide caused by a gunshot wound to the chest, and the other three deaths as homicides caused by multiple gunshot wounds.
When officers first arrived at the sprawling home on Saturday, they forced their way in and were met by a woman who had survived the gunfire by barricading herself in a room and calling for help. The woman — later identified by CBS News as the couple’s adult daughter with special needs — directed the officers to another part of the house, where they found several bodies, authorities said.
During a briefing for reporters Saturday night, LAPD Capt. Kelly Muniz said that “the only positive point is that you at least have one witness who has survived this incident.”
“I don’t know how much more terrifying and horrific of a scene it could be,” Muniz added.
Neighbors described the family as “quiet” and said they had not caused problems, keeping to themselves. Some said they were surprised to hear of such violence in the affluent community.
“This is a nice neighborhood,” said Richard Asperger, 62. “To think that a triple homicide or a shootout can happen, that’s not what we moved here for.”
It’s not clear when a funeral or vigil might take place, and on Tuesday evening the remaining family did not offer comment to The Times.
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