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Subscribe to RSSLOS ANGELES -- A man in his 80s described as problematic for years and angry with building management allegedly shot and killed two employees at a senior housing facility in Torrance before committing suicide Tuesday afternoon.
The incident happened in the lobby of Golden West Towers, located at 3510 N. Maricopa St., shortly after noon Tuesday.
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The alleged gunman, who was not immediately identified, was a resident of the building for at least a decade, according to neighbors. He allegedly shot and killed a female manager who lived at the facility and a female caretaker who lived offsite.
Neighbors said the man had been a problem for years.
Alex Galindo, a maintenance worker at the facility, described the man as a "nuisance" and a "threat." Residents had petitioned the management company to evict the man, Galindo said.
"People knew he was a little bit off, and people were warned, but nobody did anything. So I know there's going to be blood on a lot of people's hands. That's all I can say," Galindo said.
Also, Galindo said, about a year ago, the man allegedly slashed the manager's car tires, prompting building officials to point security cameras toward the car as added protection.
Golden West Towers is a 14-floor, 180-unit senior housing facility that offers subsidized apartments, according to the city of Torrance.
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What a troubled and sick world we live in.
Nobody in an assisted living facility has "private property." The caregivers dress the people, often launder clothes and put them away. None of these facilities allow guns; they have special detectors if a resident comes in or out, and if they are dementia patients, which this man clearly was, they require that the residents are in a special area with key-pads to protect them from wandering out. This is a major failure of the facility to:
1. Address the issues connected to this man's dementia, and have him in the proper part of their facility, making sure that he had nothing that would be able to harm him or others.
2. Properly train the staff.
3. Address the medical issues of the patient so that any acting out would be evaluated. Some of the anti-Alzheimer's drugs can cause a person to lose inhibitions, and if meds are not properly balanced, it can cause serious problems. Restraints are not a good idea; if there is nowhere like a lounge for the residents to go, and they just wander in the halls unsupervised, they can become very agitated. Dementia by itself causes agitation, especially when a person is beginning to experience symptoms and they become angry and upset that they cannot remember things or do things. Certain times of the day are worse, such as the "sundown" effect when people get tired; they need redirection. Assisted living provides supervised arts and crafts, puzzles, and other activities that residents enjoy; those facilities that offer these things only once in a while often have agitated residents.
4. Many facilities just dump "problem patients" in senior psychiatric centers, and keep their high "star" ratings, but those facilities are often the worst at elder management. It is better that a facility knows what the possessions of a patient are, and is able to handle their needs. My father is in a good facility right now, and he is very happy there, but he was unhappy at another facility. If however, a patient really needs the senior psychiatric facility, then it might help, but a geriatric psychiatrist would go over both the medications and care needs, and often they just recommend a different facility.
Back to point 1: In no way, under any circumstances, in any such facility, should there be any way that a gun could be in the possession of a resident. That is a failing of the facility more than the patient that has dementia. It could possibly be the fault of a family member who might bring the weapon, but a gun should never be anywhere in one of those facilities.
10 Stars, Elizabeth! I am glad your comment is near the top - as it should be! You have addressed this without bias and emotion and have definitely 'nailed it!' I hope all will read your comment before spouting off ignorantly - as the comment immediately below me. I just got to the 'grumpy old man' and realized that person doesn't have a clue - just emotional response. Thank you for taking the time to post the obvious and yes...this care facility is in deep now. Just as that man in the article said, "There's a lot of blood on a lot of people's hands here." This could have EASILY been prevented had this entire situation been dealt with by PROFESSIONALS from the beginning.
N. Serling: It's ok. It'll all be over a month from today! :-)
"...the man allegedly slashed the manager's car tires..."
...and there was that missing Hershey bar in the third grade.
Yeah, I'd think security should be up to security. Not the residents. I'd like to know more about this story. Whether it is standard operating procedure to prohibit weapons, and if this guy had help in sneaking one in.
Criminal charges maybe on the accomplice.
Elizabeth 1372999 --- a senior housing building is not the same as an assisted living facility. Clearly, he was living independently in a senior "community".
I am sorry Elizabeth, but this is a senior housing facility not an assisted care facility. None of what you stated applies in this case. It's just another case of an angry person exercising his "right" to own a gun.
How did you miss that? "Senior Housing Facility" is in the headline and then at the end it says "Golden West Towers is a 14-floor, 180-unit senior housing facility that offers subsidized apartments".
Never once said "assisted care facility".
Just sayin'
And there is no indication from the article that the shooter suffered from any form of dementia.
If this were a nursing facility or an assisted living facility, your analysis would be spot on.
That being said he should have been evicted (and placed in a nursing facility) the moment he slashed the manager's tires.
Are you saying seniors don't have 2nd amendment rights? Just curious.
Growing old doesn't mean you grow nicer. It is sad that such a tragedy happened and as the "boomer" generation gets even grayer, I imagine this will happen more often.
It's not that easy to evict from senior housing, or rather subsidized housing. I work for HUD housing and we see problematic tenants all the time. They get mixed up meds or no meds or are just angry people. There is usually a waiting list to get into some places, so It's not owners or management holding on to these people it's the protection in the system. The usual red tape and all the laws protecting the wrong people. In some states in Senior housing, you also have to have 10 units for family and there are a certain amount of apartments set aside for people with disability, mental or psychical. SOOO in senior housing, you have the elderly running around with younger people who may or may not be taking their meds for a mental illness. I know I know most people are supposed to have a care taker, but trust me, they are not all good at what they do... Funny thing is mosy people would be shocked at the behavior of most of the residents and most people couldn't handle the job as building manager. It is a very difficult situation and again because of the word subsidized it has all kinds of rules and red tape and again usually protects the wrong people. Maybe this one incident and the thousands that don't get press attention will make the Government take a look at the books and rules and make the much needed to changes to at the very least evict someone for being a genuine problematic tenant.
What an POS, grumpy old man had to kill two other people just to show how big of an azz he was. Should have done everyone a favor and shot himself first.
Hearts and prayers to the families and fiends of the victims.
This man clearly was showing the signs of dementia.The lack of managements tenacity to call in social workers to try and remove this man into a board and care home.This was a tragic event and preventable.
I agree. But, why was there a gun on site at such a facility? This is not a private house.
Actually, it was a private house. It was an apartment that caters to seniors.
There is no indication that the shooter suffered from dementia. Dementia involves a memory impairment as well as other cognitive impairments.
Just a cleaning lady. When you are management of SENIOR HOUSING, not assisted living, you do not have the legal rights to contact social workers on behalf of a resident. You can contact that persons children or the people listed as his contact for such things, but you can't do anything. You also have no legal right to admit someone to a different type of facility, it's up to their kin to do it and if they have no kin it goes to the state. So think about that. Elizabeth, how many times do you need to be told that this is a private residence. These people rent those apartments just like you would. The difference is the way the law works in an eviction because it is subsidized most of them are paying very little if anything in rent, so it is usually not a matter of eviction for non payment, but rather something else which has to go to a different form of court and can take quite some time. Also, because this is what I do for a living, I have seen perfectly fine seniors go off the deep end due to a mix up in meds or a lcak there of, and they don't have dementia. Sorry as I noticed you are really stuck on that too. Sometimes they are just not nice to begin with, do you assume that because they are elderly they are sweet kind until they get dementia? Because in the real world, far far from it dear! Now on to the gun. If he owned it, he owned it. There is no law that states they can not have a gun in their own home if they own it legally period, senior housing or not. If you have doubts about what I'm saying just go to a local subsidized senior housing facility and ask them how it run in that state, or save yourself the time and go on line and do a little research. I work in Wisconsin, and I can tell you my job is difficult and the job of the managers is difficult too. I do whats called recertification for senior housing. Not easy for us or them. After you have looked all that up, please come back and delete all your posts that do not relate this situation at all. And lastly thank you so much Don Giacomo for trying not once but twice to set these misinformed people straight!
cchance - There is a form of dementia that effects the portion of the brain that reinforces tolerance. I am familiar with it because it is effecting my mother. Yes it is true, "grumpy old man" can be a symptom of a form of dementia. Not everybody gets sick the same way.
Pretty good money for doing nothing Gloria.
It seems some people in management are still afraid to step up and remove inappropriate residents from senior facilities because of concerns about others rights. I have seen this too many times in my job. Threats of discrimination from relatives or family members can leave facilities in a bind. Unsure or unaware if they can legally remove a resident who is posing problems to others in buildings or managment.
I also have a disabled sister who had a man in one of her buildings, who was threatening residents and eventually started stalking her as well. After numerous complaints to management went unaddressed, I advised her to contact the buildings owner, who finally took steps to have the man removed promptly. Which turned out to be good timing, because this man started using a knife as he approached residents just days before he was evicted.
How horrible and tragic, help and assistance wasn't sought so this elderly man was taken care of before he killed two people before taking his own life. I sure hope help will be available now to the residents to help them cope with what has happened. And that any other place experiencing similar problems will seek appropriate steps, Then perhaps something may be learned from this devastating story.
maintenance worker worker sure had a lot to say.
Makes me wonder how they were treating the old guy with this type of attitude about him. They may have exacerbated a situation that was already dangerous to begin with. Not saying they deserved this in the least but they unknowingly may of had a hand in their own demise.
They obviously had done nothing to remove dangerous objects from his room. Guns are not legal in such facilities. Either the staff had neglected to remove weapons in all the years the man was in the facility, or else the man's relatives had brought the gun, in which case they should be charged.
I don't think this was a nursing home Elizabeth. I live across the street from a place like this. It's subsidized housing apartments for seniors and the disabled. They can come and go as they please if able. The ones who aren't have a caregiver come in for a few hours a day and help out. And they have an on site manager. Some residents have cars and leave everyday. At least the one here is like that. And some of the nursing homes have separate facilities of a different name next door that have senior living without the same level of care that are like the places across the street from me. If this is the case it wouldn't have been out of the realm of possibility that he obtained a gun at a store with legal ID and brought it home after the waiting period, if he was legally able to have a gun.
Sheesh...again with Elizabeth and the "guns are not legal in such facilities" and "neglectful staff/relatives should be charged"....it's NOT a nursing home.
What about his 2nd amendment rights?
Give up on Elizabeth, she apparently knows all about what is in her head and refuses to listen or reread the dang article. Perhaps she has dementia. This is so ridiculous people also blaming management, yes because management is who evicts people and goes to court for it etc. Sometimes I can't believe how stupid people are. There are owners or management companies that handle all that business. The building manager, files any complaints with them and they take the steps to fix the situation. I'm wondering if any of the people complaining know how freaking long it takes to evict someone?????
"prompting building officials to point security cameras toward the car as added protection."
At least the car was safe.
Sounds to me like they're in it for the money, and don't really give a darn. 'Tis a real shame. 3 dead, and could probably been prevented.
Be careful where you put your loved ones...go see for yourself what the situation is...words are cheap, and quite often, inaccurate.
Prayers and condolences for all families.
Baschnagel, do you know what subsidized means? Do you go around and interview every tenant in the building? And who's in it for the money? Because as my first question states, well you can maybe figure it out if you are smart enough to look up that word.
Nice glimpse into the future. Elderly people demented and hell-bent on protecting their post-80's delusions.
The freaky thing is that the variable 'aging_persons_with_firearms' is increasing geometrically even though they are passing away at an expected rate, naturally.
Sad
A member of a well regulated militia? Ban handguns.
O shut up and go hug a tree!
takenaka:
Why are you always here when a murderer uses a gun, but never when someone is saved by one?
Why aren't you allowed to have one? You've never answered that.
Pork Chops: It sounds like YOU'RE the one who needs to hug a tree. Tree hugging has been proven to promote health and emotional well-being. Don't take my word for it--try it yourself! Better than drugs!
"...demented elderly hell-bent on protecting their post-80's delusions"
That must be some sort of contagious disease rapidly spreading to all age groups around the world then? "Post 80's Delusional Protective Syndrome" or "P8DPS," for short. What delusions and decades-of-choice are all the other people (young and middle-aged) protecting; causing them to kill people as a way of solving their problems? Why are stories like this in the news every day? No, I don't think statistics on who's killing who and why will prove your assessment of the causes of this disease correct; here in the present or the future.
Hand gun.
Another article
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-1121-adult-living-slayings-20121121,0,7056050.story
mentioned it.
Hand gun muderers strike again. When will those little old ladies at the old folks home wake up and arm themselves?
NOW HEAR THIS you anti gun idiots... Did the GUN KILL or did the person holding it?
That's like a fat person blaming THE SPOON for being overweight!
The person did, thats why we need to ban people like this from having guns.
It's a lot easier to shoot someone if you have a gun.
its definitely easier to embed a bullet into your intended victim with a gun, that's for sure !
freedom: You're saying "we", as if you are part of this country.
Please keep your crap in your own country.
Sam Adams: "It's a lot easier to shoot someone if you have a gun."
Funny how that works, huh? Wonder to what well-regulated militia this fellow belonged....
Condolences to the families of the victims.
What a loser. Why was this angry trouble maker allowed a weapon? People like this should be denied weapons. If people are warning others about someone being dangerous and a potential threat, it should be law that they must be reported to police. And then put on a ban list for firearms ownership. Until cleared by a shrink.
Ban handguns.
You should emigrate to the US and become a citizen, BEFORE you try to change our laws.
Yet they call themselves freedom for everyone. Because guns don't bring freedom and bad guys don't kill people unless they have guns right?
because you need to have at least 20 written complaints to present a judge here where I live to start the process of eviction on a problematic tenant. Yep, so go figure 20 seniors need to write a letter of complaint before the judge will even consider a look because of red tape laws and the most famous suit of today, discrimination.
in America every nut job can own a gun
Gene: "in America every nut job can own a gun"
YOU ARE CORRECT SIR! Even if they DON'T belong to a "well-regulated militia."
What a sweet old man? What happened to the days when old people were soft, sweet and the better lot that the young could follow, rely on, depend on and lean on for emotional help, support and guidance? People blame these old age homes...but do you know how much the workers get paid, how much work they do for ungrateful elderly or their families...some of whom are rude, demanding, have a feeling of entitlement and show little respect or sympathy to the workers. Why did they put up with this guy when he slit someone's tyres. They should have called the family and packed him off, or demanded they put him in another facility. Strangers who are underpaid, and sometimes unprepared for certain jobs, are now doing the caretaking of the young and old in this country. Families that are rich don't want to take care of their aging parents and put them in these homes but do so without investigating them, or makng sure their elderly follow rules and show some compliance. There needs to be a focus on the family of this man. We focus on parents when their kids shoots someone, how about focus on adult kids or other family when an elderly run amok?
When, what you propose happens, "they" can come to your home and move you, because "they" don't like your looks.
The murderer was living in his HOME. NOT a care center as you claim.
Mostly you are spot on except for calling his family and demanding he get packed off, unfortunately it doesn't work like that. He has rights and can't just be sent to the curb no matter how bad he is. LOt's of red tape in the government world of subsidized!
Just because he was a little bit off doesn't automatically mean he had dementia. It sounded to me like he was a nasty person his whole life and a person with dementia wouldn't be able, I would think, to plan something like this. However he got the gun they should be held accountable as well. Also, did they know before this happened that he had a gun? If so, why didn't they act to get it out of there? He certainly didn't act alone in this. I wonder if his family provided the gun to him because he said he needed one, I wondered if they dropped him there years ago because he was such a nasty person and they just couldn't deal with him anymore.
He was living in his OWN apartment.
The article says "senior housing", not "assisted living" as some commenters are saying. My parents are in "senior housing" and it's pretty much like any other apartment building, only everyone there is over 65. Nobody checks what you have or don't have in your apartment, residents come and go freely, and many even have their own cars. The facility certainly should have addressed this man's hostile behavior (call the police, at least, as one would in any other residential situation where someone posed a threat to others), but they may well not be on the hook for what he had or did not have in his possession.
but.. but..but... everyone keeps telling me if only we all had more guns, we'd have less shootings ! ...
you mean this old man didn't get the memo ?
This is why I will never live in one of those "coot-itoriums".
I hope you have a good retirement plan and lots of money and the ability to keep up your home. None of plan to be there fool!
Phoenyx13: "but.. but..but... everyone keeps telling me if only we all had more guns, we'd have less shootings ! ..."
That's right, Phoenyx! Everyone in the building should have had many guns--especially managment. They could have started their own "well-regulated militia," yee haw!
ROFL !!!
i love it ! LOL
but its true.. i've definitely been told multiple times that if only we had more guns then we'd have less shootings... and i'm waiting