Gunman, 3 hostages reported dead at California veterans home

Gunman, 3 hostages reported dead at California veterans home

By Lucia I. Suarez Sang, Elizabeth Zwirz | Fox News
37 mins ago

A gunman and three female hostages were dead Friday evening after an hours long "active shooter situation" at a veterans home in Napa County, Calif.

The bodies were discovered around 6 p.m. local time, about eight hours after the gunman slipped into an employee going-away party in a building that houses Pathway Home, a program that assists combat veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The three slain women were employees of the program at the Veterans Home of California in Yountville, about an hour's drive north of San Francisco.

Napa County officials identified the slain hostages as Christine Loeber, 48, executive director of Pathway Home; Dr. Jen Golick, 42, a therapist; and Dr. Jennifer Gonzales, 29, whom Pathway Home identified as a psychologist with the San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.

"These brave women were accomplished professionals who dedicated their careers to serving our nation's veterans, working closely with those in the greatest need of attention after deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan," a Pathway Home statement said.

Napa identified the gunman as Albert Wong, 36, of Sacramento, a former client of the Pathway Home program.

California Highway Patrol Assistant Chief Chris Childs, of the Golden Gate Division, said officers entered the room where the hostages were being held around 6 p.m. and found the bodies.

Exactly when the hostages and gunman died was unclear, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Prior to that, authorities said, they hadn't had contact with the gunman for nearly eight hours since he entered the area where the party was being held.

Officials said the suspect exchanged gunfire with a deputy at the center when he took the women hostage about 10:30 a.m.

Responding deputies exchanged gunfire with the suspect, who was armed with a rifle. Authorities said at least 15 to 20 shots were fired in Building G, starting about 10:30 a.m.

Childs said hostage negotiators from at least three agencies were at the scene, attempting to make contact with the individual.

Brian Goder, a resident of the veterans home who was under lockdown for hours in the main dining room of the veterans home, told the Associated Press that he saw more than a dozen armed troops walking to the building in which the suspect and hostages are located. The soldiers could be seen in a video he posted on Facebook, but it wasn't immediately clear what agency they were from.

The hostages were reportedly employees of Pathway Home, a privately run program on the veterans home's grounds. That group "serves post-9/11 veterans affected by deployment-related stress," according to the Pathway Homes website.

Earlier Friday, a number of ambulances, fire trucks and an armored police vehicle were seen at the property.

A group of about 80 students who were on the home's grounds were safely evacuated after being locked down, the sheriff said. The teens from Justin-Siena High School were at a theater there, rehearsing a play.

"They were a distance away from the shooting situation," Robertson said.

Some of the children were driven away on school buses and others in cars.

According to the California Department of Veterans Affairs, the Veterans Home of California in Yountville dates to 1884 and is considered the largest veterans home in the U.S. with more than 1,000 veterans from all wars dating to World War II.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/03/10...rans-home.html

Victims killed in California veterans home standoff described as 'brave women;' gunman ID'd

By Benjamin Brown | Fox News
1 hour ago

The three women who dedicated their lives to treating military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress were described as “brave woman” after they were gunned down by an ex-patient of the treatment program they worked in.

Police said a gunman – later identified as Albert Wong, 36, of Sacramento – managed around 10:30 a.m. Friday to discreetly enter a going-away party for an employee of Pathway Home, a privately run treatment program housed at Veterans Home of California-Yountville.

Wong held the three women hostages and sparked a nearly eight-hour standoff with police.

At around 6 p.m., authorities discovered the bodies of the three women – identified as Christine Loeber, 48, executive director of the program; Jennifer Golick, 42, a clinical director; and Jennifer Gonzales, 29, a clinical psychologist.

Authorities said Wong had also killed himself.

“These brave women were accomplished professionals who dedicated their careers to serving our nation’s veterans, working closely with those in the greatest need of attention after deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan,” the Pathway Home statement said. “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.”

Golick's father-in-law said she had recently ordered Wong removed from the program.

Golick called her husband, Mark, around 10:30 a.m. to say that she had been taken hostage by the former soldier, Bob Golick said.

Mark didn't hear from her again, Golick said.

Veterans Home of California-Yountville is the largest veterans’ home in the nation, according to the state Department of Veterans Affairs.

On Saturday morning, President Donald Trump tweeted his condolences to the three women killed.

President Trump tweeted his condolences Saturday to the three women killed.

"We are deeply saddened by the tragic situation in Yountville and mourn the loss of three incredible women who cared for our Veterans," Trump wrote.

Authorities said Wong was a former participant in the Pathway Home program, but investigators had yet to determine a motive for the killings.

"It's far too early to say if they were chosen at random," California Highway Patrol Assistant Chief Chris Childs said of the slain hostages, during a news conference Friday evening.

Wong had been an Army infantryman who served a year in Afghanistan from 2011 to 2012. He held a number of service awards, including one for expert marksmanship with a rifle.

News of Friday's tragedy drew reactions of sadness and shock.

"We are deeply saddened and affected by the tragic outcome of the hostage situation at the Veterans Home of California in Yountville and extend our deepest condolences to the loved ones involved," wrote David Shulkin, U.S. secretary of Veterans Affairs, in a Twitter message. "We ask for patience as we continue to monitor emerging details."

California Gov. Jerry Brown also offered condolences.

"(T)he horrible violence at the Yountville Veterans Home ... tragically took the lives of three people dedicated to serving our veterans. Our hearts go out to their families and loved ones and the entire community of Yountville," Brown wrote.

A Napa County sheriff’s deputy responded to an emergency call around 10 a.m. and exchanged gunfire with the suspect. Shortly after, the women were taken hostage.

“We believe and credit him with saving the lives of others in the area by eliminating the ability for the suspect to go out and find further victims,” Childs said. The officer was not injured.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Larry Kamer said his wife, Devereaux Smith, a fundraiser for Pathway Home, told him by phone that the gunman had slipped quietly into the building before taking some people hostage, while letting others leave.

Authorities were unable to make contact with the gunman and hostages throughout the day, and after nearly eight hours, law enforcement entered a room where they believed the hostages were being held. There they found three women and the suspected gunman -- all dead, Childs said.

It was not immediately clear what type of gun was used in the shootings.

Authorities found a cellphone in a rental car belonging to the suspect that was parked near the facility, authorities said.

Gov. Brown ordered flags at the state Capitol in Sacramento to be flown at half-staff following the shooting, KTVU reported.

Fox News’ Bradford Betz, Lucia I. Suarez Sang, Elizabeth Zwirz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/03/10...-standoff.html