Suspect's Home Burned Before Shooting
Sept. 6, 2001 -- The man suspected of walking into a home in a quiet suburban Los Angeles neighborhood and launching a killing spree that left a woman and two young children dead and two teen-agers wounded allegedly set his own home on fire an hour before the deadly rampage.
Police are still looking for a man identified as Reynaldo Herrera Rodriguez, who was believed to have fled in a dark blue 2002 Ford Explorer he rented, according to Simi Valley police.
Police have said investigators believe they know the motive for the shooting, but would not elaborate on what it was. But Simi Valley Police Chief Randy G. Adams told The Associated Press the shooting may have been "in relation to a domestic violence situation." Rodriguez is an ex-boyfriend of one of the women who lives in the house, although it seems she was not in the home when the shooting occurred.
According to police, a fire broke out in Rodriguez's home in Thousand Oaks on Wednesday at around 3 p.m. and the shooting broke out in the Simi Valley house less than an hour later.
Authorities were investigating the fire at the suspect's home, which they described as suspicious. No one was immediately arrested and it looked as though no one was home.
"We don't know if he's connected to the fire but we're working with investigators," Simi Valley police spokesman Lt. Rex Jones said.
Entered the House and Started Shooting
One of the witnesses, a 16-year-old boy who was shot, told police that the suspect entered the house through the garage, shooting at people as he went. He was looking for his ex-girlfriend, police said.
Sgt. John McGinty told The Associated Press that Rodriguez's 24-year-old former girlfriend was at work when the shooting broke out.
Police responded to a 911 call reporting gunfire at 3:45 p.m. local time. Simi Valley police and Ventura County firefighters found five victims in a home.
"Somebody showed up, entered the home and started shooting," Jones said.
Esperanza Martinez, 80, Ricardo Calderon, 12, and Shantal Rios, 5, were all killed in the shooting spree, according to police.
ABC Los Angeles affiliate KABC and other local stations first reported that six people were shot, but police later confirmed the number was only five. A sixth person, Rafael Calderon Jr., 18, broke his wrist leaping out of a window to escape the gunfire. He ran to a neighbor's house and called police.
Rigoberto Calderon, 16, was shot in the thigh and Lucia Vargas, 19, was shot in the abdomen and wrist. Vargas was in intensive care at Simi Valley Hospital, hospital spokesman Jeremy Brewer said.
The shooting comes less than a week after a former policeman barricaded himself in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Clarita and shot and killed a police officer before dying in a fire during a four-hour standoff with police. ABCNEWS affiliate KABC in Los Angeles contributed to this report.