Husband, Father, Christain. Rest In Peace Randal Simmons
The LAPD was deeply shaken by the nightlong siege in an otherwise quiet San Fernando Valley neighborhood. Officer Randal Simmons, described as "the rock" of the elite SWAT team, became the first member in its four-decade history to die in the line of duty, taking a gunshot to the neck as the unit stormed the house in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue hostages and end the conflict.
The standoff began shortly after a man in Winnetka called 911 saying he had gunned down three relatives. It ended early Thursday -- more than eight hours later -- with a single round from a police sniper who killed the suspect as he emerged from his burning house firing a barrage of bullets. In between, two highly decorated Los Angeles Police Department officers were shot. James Veenstra, was shot and seriously wounded but was expected to recover.
The genesis of the violence was not immediately clear but appeared to involve a dispute between the shooter and his brothers and father. Friends and relatives identified the dead as Gerardo Rivera, 50, an immigrant from El Salvador who ran a trucking company, and his sons Edgar, 19, Edwin, 20, and Andy, 21.
Police did not officially say which of the sons was the shooter. Multiple police sources, however, identified him as Edwin Rivera.
Friends and relatives said there had been strains in the family involving the father's relationship with a girlfriend. The boys' mother died seven or eight years ago, family members said. A friend, Jose Ortiz, 21, said Edwin was a Reseda High School dropout.
"I don't know what would make him do something like that," Ortiz said. "I never would have expected this to happen."
Antonio Rivera, 28, of Panorama City said he was the brother of Gerardo Rivera and the uncle of the three young men and a fourth brother who was living on his own. He said that Gerardo Rivera came to the United States about 25 years ago and that all of his sons were born in this country.
Reflecting on the violence that had just occurred, he said: "You never know when something happens in the mind."
Of those inside the house, the only known survivor was a woman, believed to have been the father's girlfriend, who escaped before dawn Thursday when police fired tear gas into the house and knocked down a back wall in an attempt to expose the shooter. She was taken to a hospital, apparently for treatment of tear gas inhalation, but was not believed to be seriously hurt.
The shootout marked perhaps the worst day in the history of the Special Weapons and Tactics Unit, created in the late 1960s and formalized in 1971 to deal with especially dangerous situations. It handles about 100 incidents a year involving barricaded suspects but had never lost an officer in the line of duty. (SWAT Officer Louis Villalobos died during a training accident in 2000 and was awarded the Medal of Valor.)"Today is a sad and tragic day in the city of Los Angeles," a grim-faced Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told reporters at a news conference near the shooting scene. With him were Police Chief William J. Bratton, who had rushed back to L.A. from a conference in Vancouver, Canada, and a phalanx of other city officials and police brass. As Bratton spoke of Simmons, recalling the work that the fallen officer had done for children, Assistant Chief James McDonnell wiped tears from his eyes.
Earlier, McDonnell had called Simmons and Veenstra, both 51 and veterans of the SWAT team, "two of the best in the country at what they do." Simmons, a married father of two teenagers, had been on the force for 27 years, 20 with the SWAT unit.
Bratton said condolences had poured in to the LAPD from SWAT units all over the world. SWAT officers nationally and internationally train together, and many officers in other departments knew Simmons. The death was a blow to this tight-knit and proud police subculture, he said.
"About as tough as you can get, these officers. This tears them up," Bratton said.
The incident began about 9 p.m. Wednesday when a man called 911 and said he had killed three people at a home in the 19800 block of Welby Way in the Valley neighborhood of Winnetka. Neighbors described the area as close-knit and quiet.
"A helicopter flying overhead is a big thing around here," said Elisa Jones, who lives directly behind the gunman's home -- a white, one-story ranch-style house with a sloping shingle roof.
Police surrounded the residence, which is owned by Gerardo Rivera, according to property records.
Because they had been led to believe that as many as six people might be in the house, and that at least some of them might be alive and in danger, a decision was made to send in a SWAT team about 12:30 a.m. At some point, a police dispatcher reported hearing moaning in the background as she spoke to the suspect, authorities said.
"There are times when you have to act because there's an individual whose life is at risk," McDonnell said. [LA Times/ Richard Winton, Amanda Covarrubias and Mitchell Landsberg]