LA gunman kills five in domestic dispute

HAWAIIAN GARDENS, California - Six family members escaped a gunman rampaging through their house by climbing through a window and hiding on a roof as a room-to-room attack left a father, son and daughter dead and the mother critically wounded, authorities said.

Joseph Mercado, 27, is suspected of shooting and killing 23-year-old Serena Tarin, his ex-girlfriend, with an assault-style rifle in what appeared to be a domestic dispute involving a child custody issue, sheriff's homicide Lt. Don Slawson said.

Mercado also poured petrol on an exterior wall but failed to light it with a match, Slawson said.

The attack was halted when two patrol deputies rushed to the home after hearing a burst of gunfire. They confronted Mercado as he left the house carrying a gun. One of the deputies shot at Mercado, who was arrested after a bullet grazed his head.

"I believe if the deputies weren't there, we'd have a lot more deceased, and the house would be burned to the ground," Slawson said.

The attack began about 4am local time in a gritty Hawaiian Gardens neighborhood south of Los Angeles when a gunman shot a lock from a door and opened fire in several rooms.

"(I heard) 20 gunshots," said Linda Sanchez, a neighbour who lives about a half-block away. "Two little gunshots after that and a couple of minutes later, sirens and helicopters."

Six family members, including some children, climbed out an upstairs window and hid on the roof until deputies arrived, Slawson said.

Inside the home, authorities found the bodies of Serena Tarin and her 21-year-old brother Alfredo Tarin.

Their father Alfredo Tarin Sr. died hours later at Long Beach Memorial Hospital, spokeswoman Krista Harlow said. His wife Lucy Tarin was hospitalized in critical condition.

Further information was not immediately released, but a neighbor said the parents were in their 50s.


- AP