Jan. 01--Three people were fatally shot inside a Rowland Heights home on New Year's Eve by a man who was then shot and killed by his son, who had wrestled the handgun away from his father, sheriff's officials said.
Los Angeles County sheriff's detectives are still trying to determine what prompted the 54-year-old man to open fire, killing his son's bedridden mother, girlfriend and friend, sheriff's Lt. John Corina said.
The son -- identified as Christopher Morey, 33 -- called 911 after he shot his father, Corina said. Deputies then went to the home in the 2200 block of Batson Avenue, where all four victims were pronounced dead.
Morey was booked on suspicion of murder and held in lieu of $1-million bail. A semi-automatic handgun was recovered at the scene, sheriff's officials said.
"We'll see what the D.A. wants to do," Corina said. "We're going to book him for what he did -- he killed another human being. The district attorney will decide if it was justified."
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Corina said investigators had spoken with neighbors and other people who were at the home throughout the evening to verify what the son had told detectives.
"We're still trying to corroborate what exactly happened and his version of events," Corina said. "We're trying to piece it all together."
The names of the four people who were shot -- two men, ages 27 and 54, and two women, 46 and 54 -- were not immediately released by the coroner's office.
But one woman who went to the Rowland Heights home on Friday said her 27-year-old son, Ernesto Calzadilla, was among those killed.
Calzadilla's brother parked his car in front of the house Friday and stared at it with reddening eyes. Wilfred Calzadilla said his brother would hang out at the house often -- Morey was generous with his beer and money, he said.
But Morey's dad "wasn't all there," and shot at Ernesto Calzadilla once before, his brother said.
"We told him not to come over here any more," Wilfred Calzadilla said, tears welling in his eyes. "We heard it on the news and we kept hoping it wasn't my brother, but they told us it was."
Neighbors said the family who lived inside the low-slung, ranch home were friendly -- but drank a lot and could sometimes be loud. Broken glass and cigarette butts were strewn about the front yard. Dozens of Bud Light bottles were piled on shelves by the door.
Corina said deputies had responded to the house about 25 times in the last three years, generally after neighbors or others would call about disturbances.
Darlene Tubbs, a family friend who lives up the street, said the family was troubled. Morey's mother had a series of strokes and was bedridden, she said. His father drank frequently and always carried a gun, she said.
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