A gunman and three women were discovered dead inside the largest veterans home in the country Friday night after a tense hours-long standoff with California authorities.
The shooter, who had been asked to leave the facility earlier this week, snuck inside the Napa Valley center Friday morning and took three employees hostage, according KABC-TV.
“This is a tragic piece of news, one that we were really hoping we wouldn’t have to come before the public to give,” said Chris Childs, assistant chief for the California Highway Patrol’s Golden Gate Division.
The three hostages were identified as Executive Director Christine Loeber; Dr. Jen Golick, a therapist; and Dr. Jennifer Gonzales, a psychologist with the San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.
The facility, The Pathway Home, is about 53 miles north of San Francisco and treats 1,000 veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The nearly eight-hour standoff began when the gunman slipped into an employee going-away party in a building.
The only shots that were heard at the center happened at around 10:30 a.m. local time, when authorities say the suspect arrived.
Throughout the day, authorities said they had been unable to make contact with the gunman and the bodies were found at around 6 p.m.
In a statement released late Friday, Pathway Home praised the women for their work.
“These brave women were accomplished professionals who dedicated their careers to serving our nation’s veterans and working closely with those in the greatest need of attention after deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan,” the statement read.
“All of us at The Pathway Home are devastated by today’s events. We stand with the families, friends, and colleagues who share in this terrible loss.”
California state Sen. Bill Dodd told ABC7 that the unidentified gunman had served in the Middle East and suffered from PTSD. The man had been asked to leave the facility earlier in the week.
With Wires