YOUNTVILLE, Calif.(AP,March 10,2018): — Three workers for a program that treats veterans for post-traumatic stress disorder were found dead Friday along with the suspect who took them hostage in a daylong standoff at the largest veterans home in the U.S., officials said.
The bodies of the four were discovered nearly eight hours after the gunman slipped into an employee going-away party in a building where combat veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan receive treatment, said California Highway Patrol Assistant Chief Chris Childs.
The three female victims were employees of the nonprofit organization Pathway Home treatment program, which is housed on the campus of the Veterans Home of California-Yountville.
3 hostages killed at veterans home in California
Veterans Home of California hostage taking
Law enforcement members stage at the Veterans Home of California after reports of an active shooter Friday, March 9, 2018, in Yountville, Calif. N(JL Sousa/Napa Valley Register via AP)
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Ellen Knickmeyer And Janie Har, The Associated Press
Published Friday, March 9, 2018 4:12PM EST
Last Updated Friday, March 9, 2018 11:30PM EST
YOUNTVILLE, Calif. — Three workers for a program that treats veterans for post-traumatic stress disorder were found dead Friday along with the suspect who took them hostage in a daylong standoff at the largest veterans home in the U.S., officials said.
The bodies of the four were discovered nearly eight hours after the gunman slipped into an employee going-away party in a building where combat veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan receive treatment, said California Highway Patrol Assistant Chief Chris Childs.
The three female victims were employees of the nonprofit organization Pathway Home treatment program, which is housed on the campus of the Veterans Home of California-Yountville.
Napa County Sheriff John Robertson declined to identify the victims and the gunman Friday night, saying family members still needed to be notified.
Authorities said they know who the gunman is but did not reveal his identity or know the motive for the attack at the state-run Veterans Home of California-Yountville, in one of Napa Valley’s most upscale towns in the heart of wine country.
Childs said investigators have not determined a motive.
“It’s far too early to say if they were chosen at random,” Childs said.
Yountville is about 85 kilometres north of San Francisco.
