LOS ANGELES (AP) – The ex-wife of the man who allegedly went out in a shootout in a Southern California office building earlier this week that left four people dead – including a 9-year-old boy – said on Saturday she could not understand why her husband was targeting people who treated her as family for more than one year. decade.
Police say the suspect, Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez, targeted the mobile home broker Unified Homesand maintained personal and commercial relationships with the victims. His wife, Aleyda Mendoza, worked in the Orange County business for more than 10 years as an assistant broker.
Mendoza, in a text message to the Associated Press, said that she and Gaxiola have been separated for two years and “he never told me anything about where he was staying or what he was doing”.
“I can’t understand what went through your mind to make such a terrible decision,” wrote Mendoza. “He left behind a sea of pain and sadness for so many families who cannot find comfort.”
Gaxiola, 44, was charged with four counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder for shooting two police officers who were not hit and for seriously injuring the boy’s mother, officials said. His indictment is scheduled for Monday. The police have not yet revealed their motive.
The shooting in the city of Orange, southeast of Los Angeles, was the third largest mass shooting in the country in just two weeks. The other shootings – in Colorado and Georgia – left 18 dead.
Authorities identified the people killed in the California attack as Luis Tovar, 50, owner of Unified Homes; Letícia Solis Guzman, 58; and Jenevieve Raygoza, 28, and her brother, Matthew Farias, 9.
Mendoza said that the people at Casa Unificado “have always supported me” and their children.
“Unified Homes was my home for over 10 years and they were my family,” she wrote. “I learned everything I know there and they shaped who I am today.”
Matthew usually stayed at the nursery after school, but Wednesday afternoon he was with his mother, Blanca Tamayo, who worked at Unified Homes. She was the only person shot who survived. When the police arrived, Tamayo was packing his dead son.
Tovar had a previous relationship with Tamayo and they were Raygoza’s parents.
Mendoza said she and her children now fear for their lives because they have received threatening calls since the shooting.
“My heart is broken, I still can’t accept that it happened,” she wrote. “I keep closing my eyes and praying to God that this is all just a nightmare and I will wake up soon.”
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Taxin reported from Orange County.