3 killed, 2 wounded in California home shooting

[November 12, 2013]  STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) -- Authorities in Northern California were seeking a motive Monday in a home-invasion shooting that left three adult family members dead and two wounded, and sent a child fleeing to a nearby house for safety.

The triple murder happened shortly before midnight Friday in Stockton. Sheriff's deputies responded after receiving a 911 call from a man who reported that he, his girlfriend and other family members had been shot. Deputies arrived and found three of the victims -- a couple in their 50s and their son -- dead at the scene, Deputy Les Garcia said.

Deputies found two other victims, who said two people entered the home, shot them and fled.

Those two survivors were taken to a nearby hospital. Their conditions have not been released. Several media reports say a 6-year-old boy escaped the home during the shooting and fled to a nearby house.

"My neighbor, he saw him, and he took him in, and (the boy) said, 'My daddy got shot,' and he said he saw his grandma die, and he's just in shock," Briza Martinez told KOVR-TV.

The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office has not yet released the victims' names, Garcia said.

Investigators are still trying to determine a motive for the shooting as no new information was available, Garcia said. No arrests have been made.

Neighbors told the Stockton Record that the older woman who lived in the home was friendly and loved her family and their pets, including a number of kittens that slept and played in the driveway Saturday. The woman's husband often played romantic Spanish music on his car radio while the couple watered plants lining the chain-link fences in their front yard.

On Saturday, more than a dozen people prayed around a makeshift memorial outside the victims' home, leaving numerous candles and flowers at the scene.

"I'm here for you guys. I'm here for you guys and whatever you need," Martinez told the group. "I'm here for you guys, and you guys are not alone."

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Information from: The Record,
http://www.recordnet.com/

[Associated Press]

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