The man who killed three women at a veterans home in California after a ten-hour siege had recently been expelled from the facility, a relative of one of the victims has said.
Albert Wong, 36, who slipped into a going-away party for two employees of The Pathway Home on the campus of the Yountville veterans home campus on Friday, also had his 9mm permit canceled in October – but officials did not say why.
Authorities in Northern California have been tight-lipped about why the former Army rifleman killed the women after the siege in Napa County.
When he raided the home, he let some people leave – but kept the three women.
Albert Wong, 36, (pictured) has been identified as the suspect who stormed the largest veterans home in the US and shooting dead three women before killing himself on Friday
Albert Wong, 36, (circled right) had been receiving treatment at The Pathway Home in California before being asked to leave its PTSD program. On Friday he raided a going-away party held at the home, where he shot the women including executive director Christine Loeber, 48, (circled left) before turning the gun on himself
Pathway Home clinical director Dr Jennifer Golick (left) , a victim of the veterans home shooting; Right: Jennifer Gonzales (right), another victim who was seven months pregnant
Executive director Christine Loeber, 48, who was killed during the attack on The Pathway Home
Police said that more than 30 shots were fired at officials and the facility was in lockdown for nearly ten hours before he killed his hostages.
Wong, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, then killed himself.
His military records show he served in Afghanistan from April 2011 to March 2012 and was enrolled in The Pathway Home’s veteran treatment program until he was recently expelled, according to a relative of one of the women.
Law enforcement officials did not respond to questions throughout the weekend about what led to Wong being dismissed from the program or whether officials had alerted police or others to any concerns about his mental health after he was removed from the program.
Executive director Christine Loeber, 48, clinical director Jennifer Golick, 42, and Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba, 32, a clinical psychologist with the San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, were remembered as immensely talented women who cared deeply about veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress.
Gonzales Shushereba was seven-months pregnant. She was married a year ago and was supposed to travel to Washington DC with her husband this weekend to celebrate their anniversary.
‘Every aspect of Jenn’s life was dedicated to others and her caring and kind spirit was evident to everyone she met. Jenn leaves behind her best friend, husband, and father of her unborn child, TJ,’ a crowdfunding page for Gonzales said.
Resident Tom Parkinson places flowers on a sign at the Veterans Home of California, the morning after a hostage situation in Yountville
Fernando Juarez, 36, of Napa, center, embraces his 22-year-old sister Vanessa Flores, right, at the Veterans Home of California on Friday. She is a caregiver at the facility and exchanged texts with family while sheltering in place when Wong took over the building
Authorities said the gunman was armed and wearing a bulletproof vest when he slipped into the facility, which is the largest veterans home in the US
Gunfire was first reported at 10.20 am after the 36-year-old man stormed a going-away party being held at the Yountville Veterans Home in Napa, California
‘Jennifer and her colleagues died doing the work they were so passionate about – helping those in critical need,’ her husband, TJ Shushereba, said in a statement.
Just earlier this week victim Jen Golick had reportedly asked Wong to leave the program, according to her father-in-law Bob Golick.
The reason for the expulsion is not clear.
Directors of the veterans program are beginning an exhaustive review of security protocols, said The Pathway Home spokesman Larry Kamer.
It may never reopen, he said.
The six residents have been moved to other facilities while officials discuss the future of the program, Kamer told the San Francisco Chronicle.
The facility’s board members are scrutinizing building security, emergency protocols and what kind of screenings are in place for incoming patients.
Cissy Sherr, of Milbrae, said in an interview with The Associated Press that she and her husband became Wong’s guardians after his father died and his mother developed health problems.
When Wong became a teenager and Sherr and her husband worked full-time, they decided to put him in foster care.
‘He always had a great smile on his face,’ she said. ‘He didn’t have a traditional upbringing but still he just became a fine young man. I can’t imagine what happened. It doesn’t make any sense to me.’