Gunman, 3 hostages found dead after siege at California veterans home
YOUNTVILLE, Calif: A former US serviceman opened fire at a California veterans home where he had undergone treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, taking three employees hostage in an all-day standoff that ended when police found him and his female captives dead.
“This is a tragic piece of news, one that we were really hoping we wouldn’t have to come before the public to give,” California Highway Patrol spokesman Chris Childs told reporters outside the facility in Yountville, a picturesque town located in the heart of Napa Valley’s wine country about 100 km north of San Francisco.
Despite repeated efforts by police negotiators to communicate with the suspect throughout the day, authorities said they had failed to make contact with the gunman after he exchanged gunfire with a sheriff’s deputy at the outset of the confrontation.
“We credit him (the deputy) with saving the lives of others in the area by eliminating the ability of the suspect to go out and find other victims,” Childs said.
Authorities later identified the gunman as 36-year-old Albert Wong, a former patient of Pathway Home, a program housed at the veterans complex for former service members suffering PTSD after deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The San Francisco Chronicle, citing unidentified sources, said Wong, who lived in Sacramento, had been asked to leave the program two weeks ago.