Gunman gave up security license before killings
The Army veteran who killed three caregivers at a Napa Valley rehabilitation center for veterans was licensed by the state to work as a security guard and carry a pistol on his hip for nearly a decade, but he failed to renew the permits last year, records show.
The lapse came as the former serviceman, Albert Cheung Wong, 36, struggled to adjust to civilian life in California after returning from the war in Afghanistan, according to friends and family members. He had difficulty sleeping and couldn’t keep a normal schedule, and plans to study computers in college fell through as he bounced between the Bay Area and Sacramento, they said. Last spring, his mother died.
The hardship steered Wong to the Pathway Home in Yountville, where after nearly a year of
residential treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder he was recently expelled over unspecified concerns about threatening behavior. Two weeks later, on Friday morning, he returned to take five employees hostage before fatally shooting three of them and turning the gun on himself.
The state records do not detail Wong’s career as an armed guard, or say exactly why he didn’t renew his license or pay the required fees. His motive for storming the rehabilitation center remains unknown, and authorities have revealed little of an investigation headed by the California Highway Patrol. But those who knew Wong said he had struggled emotionally for a long time, and some said he showed signs of becoming violent.
“He was starting to feel like he was in a hopeless circle after a while. You can only think about that for so long without snapping,” said Cissy Sherr of Millbrae, who was Wong’s legal guardian for several years after his father died and his mother became ill.
Sherr and her husband, Matthew, hadn’t seen Wong much since he stayed with them for several months after his military service ended in 2013. But they kept in touch, and most recently he shared with them his anxiety about earning a degree before his veterans education benefits expired. The death of his mother, who suffered from untold medical problems, also weighed on him.
“I know how devoted he was to his mom his whole life,” Sherr said. “He would bring her meals whenever he could . ... Even before he left for the service, he was very active in spending time with her. She always had to be in assisted living. I just know how when you have a purpose for taking care of somebody, it guides you.”
Still, Sherr said she didn’t see Friday’s outburst coming.
In 2008, Wong successfully applied for licenses to carry a 9mm semiautomatic pistol and work as a private security guard. The permits require a 12-hour course with classroom and shooting instruction and a criminal background check. The security license lapsed in September and the firearm license in October, records show.
Under California law, mental health professionals can keep people who pose a danger to themselves or others from possessing a gun, but it’s unclear whether any such steps were taken with Wong. The weapon used Friday was described in 911 dispatches as a semiautomatic rifle, but authorities have not said whether Wong bought or possessed it legally.
Wong’s life was marked with problems long before his return from the battlefield.
After living with the Sherrs for several years following the death of his father, the family was unable to continue caring for him because of their work schedules, Cissy Sherr said. Wong spent his teen years in a number of Bay Area foster homes.
“Over the span of four short years of high school, he might have lived in four different places,” Sherr said. “But he graduated high school. That’s admirable.”
After high school in Daly City, Wong enlisted in the Army, serving in the reserves from October 1998 to December 2002, military records show.
He became active in May 2010 and was deployed to Afghanistan from April 2011 to March 2012. Upon his return, he was awarded an Army Commendation Medal, as well as accolades for marksmanship and good conduct. His service ended in August 2013.
His latest residency was Sacramento, according to the Napa County Sheriff ’s Department.
As the investigation continues, the family of Jennifer Golick, a 42-year-old St. Helena resident who was slain by Wong, expressed sorrow and thanked the community for its support.
“She was a beloved mom, sister, daughter, colleague and friend,” said her husband, Mark Golick, who briefly addressed reporters in her hometown. “She is missed terribly.”
Golick reportedly told Wong to leave the treatment program over fears of violence. A friend of the family, who did not want to be named, told The Chronicle that the veteran had become a threat.
Golick’s mother, Lani Gray, said, “I feel sadness throughout my entire body. I’m still crying inside, and I will be forever.”
The other two victims were the Pathway Home’s executive director, Christine Loeber, 48, of Napa, and Jennifer Gonzales, 32, who was six months pregnant. Gonzales was a clinical psychologist with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The Pathway program, run by a nonprofit that leases space on the campus of the state-run Veterans Home of California-Yountville, remained closed Monday, its future uncertain. The six residents have been moved to other facilities, and they are staying at hotels throughout Napa County, said organization spokesman Larry Kamer. The facility’s board members have begun scrutinizing security at the facility.
Wong killed the women after bursting into a morning gathering and exchanging gunfire with a Napa County sheriff ’s deputy, authorities said. On Friday afternoon, when officers entered a room where Wong had been holed up for nearly eight hours, they found him and the three remaining hostages dead. All four had been shot.