Authorities: Dispute led to deadly Calif. fire station shooting
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. — A Los Angeles County firefighter appeared to have a longstanding job-related dispute with the colleague he fatally shot at their small, rural fire station in what was California’s second deadly workplace shooting in less than a week, authorities said Wednesday.
The gunman also critically wounded a fire captain at the station about 45 miles north of Los Angeles on Tuesday before setting his house on fire in a nearby community and apparently killing himself, officials said.
Preliminary interviews with other employees at Fire Station 81 indicate the shooter and the fellow veteran firefighter who was killed had “some workplace beef,” said Los Angeles County sheriff ’s Lt. Brandon Dean, who is overseeing the homicide investigation.
He said investigators will review the Fire Department’s personnel files to see if any official complaints had been made or disciplinary actions had been taken before the bloodshed.
It was not immediately clear how long the two had worked together at the station in Agua Dulce, a rural community of about 3,000 people in the desert of northern Los Angeles County.
The coroner’s office on Wednesday identified the firefighter who died as Tory Carlon, a 44-year-old fire specialist who drove the fire engine. He was shot several times in the upper torso, authorities said. Carlon had three daughters and had been with the department for more than 20 years.
The 54-year-old fire captain who was wounded was in critical but stable condition. He is expected to survive, Dean said. Sheriff Alex Villanueva said the captain had previously been a deputy before transferring to the Fire Department.
The gunman was 45-yearold fire specialist Jonathan Tatone, the coroner’s office said. Property records show Tatone owned the home that burned in the community of Acton, about 10 miles from the fire station.
Tatone was a county firefighter since at least 2012, according to public payroll and pension records kept by Transparent California.
Tuesday’s shooting occurred less than a week after Samuel Cassidy, 57, opened fire at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority bus and rail yard in San Jose, killing nine of his co-workers and then himself as law enforcement closed in. He had rigged his home to burn before heading to his longtime workplace.
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