Father Identified in Murder-Suicide Involving 10-Year-Old Twin Sons
CANOGA PARK (CNS) – The 37-year-old father in a suspected double-murder-suicide that left him and his 10-year-old twin sons dead in Canoga Park was identified Tuesday, June 9.
The shooting was reported at 7:18 p.m. Sunday in an apartment at 8016 Owensmouth Ave., near Strathern Street and adjacent to Lanark Park, according to a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman.
The mother of the two boys told police she heard two pops and went to a bedroom to investigate, police said. The boys’ father closed the door, produced a handgun and fired at her, but missed.
The man then shot himself in the head, according to police.
The man and his two sons were pronounced dead at the scene, he said.
The boys were identified Monday by the county medical examiner as Greysen and Joseph Chavez. The father was identified Tuesday as Gabriel Chavez.
A neighbor told reporters she was “still in shock” at the killings.
“I really didn’t believe it,” she said.
The woman told reporters there were no indications of any problems with the father.
“He looked completely normal, you know? Never would have expected that from him,” she said. “But at the same time, we don’t know what goes around behind doors and stuff like that.”
Neighbors said the boys lived in the apartment with their parents and grandparents. A memorial of toys and flowers was growing Monday outside the apartment building.
“The kids never had a chance to have a life, and I don’t know why the father, if he did have issues, why he couldn’t have gotten help. Why take his children’s life? … There’s no words right now.
The motive for the shooting remains under investigation.