Two children from Garden Grove were orphans on Thursday after their father killed their mother, then led hundreds of kilometers to the north to Stockton where he pulled another man on himself before turning the weapon on him, according to the police.
Thursday, agents of the Garden Grove police department responded to a house in Morgan Lane around 8:05 am for a social call, according to a social media position in the department. Authorities said that a person called the police and said officers and an ambulance were necessary for a family member inside the home.
Once the police arrived on the scene, they received another girl’s call inside the house saying that her mother needed help, police said. The police found the body of Crystal Gonzalez, 37, inside. A second child, the girl’s brother, was also inside and both were unharmed and did not know what had happened to their mother, police said.
It was not immediately clear how or when Gonzalez was killed.
While the investigation was underway, the police said, family members said that a vehicle belonging to the husband of Gonzalez, Miguel Lopez, 35, had been spotted in Stockton, which is more than 300 miles north in the county of San Joaquin.
Police learned from the Stockton Police Service that Lopez was involved in a shooting in their city that morning, when they were called to check the family to Garden Grove.
Police from the Stockton Police Department responded to a report from a shooting on West eight Mile Road Thursday around 8 am and discovered that two men had been slaughtered.
It seemed that Lopez shot a 54-year-old man, seriously injuring him, then he himself said the police. Lopez was declared dead on the scene.
The detectives are still working on the survey and asked anyone with more information to contact the Garden Grove police at (714) 741-5413. Agents also work to bring together children with family members.