LOS ANGELES: A man shot his wife, five young children and himself, claiming in a note that the couple had just been fired from their hospital jobs and had planned the killings as an escape for the family.
'Why leave our children in someone else's hands,' X-ray technician Ervin Lupoe wrote in a bitter, rambling two-page letter that he faxed to television station KABC-TV at about 8am on Tuesday, just before he shot himself.
'It was a grisly scene,' said a police officer. 'Our worst fear was realised...it's just not a solution.
There's just so many ways you find alternatives to doing something so horrific and drastic as this.'
The station called the police, and a police dispatch centre also received a call from a man who stated: 'I just returned home and my whole family's been shot.' Officers went to the home in Wilmington, a small community between Los Angeles and Long Beach, at 8.30am, apparently within minutes of the killings. Officers could still smell the gunshot residue in the air.
In an upstairs room, they found Mr Lupoe and three girls, eight-year-old Brittney and twin five-year-olds, Jaszmin and Jasseley, a revolver by the father's side, and a suicide note nearby.
In another room, they found Mrs Ana Lupoe and two-year-old twins Benjamin and Christian. All were shot in the head, some multiple times.
'It was a grisly scene,' said Los Angeles deputy chief Kenneth Garner. 'Today our worst fear was realised...it's just not a solution. There's just so many ways you find alternatives to doing something so horrific and drastic as this.'
While some were linking the deaths to the economic crisis, evidence has emerged that the Lupoes had been fired after a probe into misconduct, and not been laid off as part of cost-cutting.
Mr Lupoe had in his letter indicated that he and his wife - both medical technicians at Kaiser Permanente Medical Centre West Los Angeles - had been under investigation for misrepresenting their employment in order to obtain childcare.
He claimed that an administrator told them on Dec 23: 'You should not even have bothered to come to work today, you should have blown your brains out.'
The couple complained to the human resources department and eventually were offered an apology, but were fired two days later, said the letter.
'They did nothing to the manager who stated such and did not attempt to assist us in the matter, knowing we have no job and five children under 8 years with no place to go. So here we are,' wrote Mr Lupoe.
He claimed in the letter that his wife planned the killings, but police suspect Mr Lupoe instead. They believe that as early as Monday evening, he roamed from room to room armed with his revolver, shooting his wife and the children.
Early on Tuesday, he faxed the letter to the TV station, called the station threatening to kill his family, then the police. He then turned the weapon on himself, the authorities believe.
Kaiser Permanente confirmed that the Lupoes worked there, but did not comment on his claims.
'It looks like they might have had grounds for his termination,' said police captain Billy Hayes.
Mr Lupoe's grandmother, Josephine Lupoe, 83, told the Los Angeles Times that he was largely consumed by work. 'Every time I called him, he was at work. He worked all the time,' she said.
Co-workers like emergency services employee Vic Tuvera, 58, described Mr Lupoe as 'a good person and a good worker'.
The killings have prompted the authorities to urge people to use community helplines if unable to cope with financial problems.
'Whatever was the cause of the desperation that triggered this violence, there's help out there,' said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. 'There's nothing, no option so horrible that can make you do something as horrific as this.'
ASSOCIATED PRESS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, THE NEW YORK TIMES
'Why leave our children in someone else's hands,' X-ray technician Ervin Lupoe wrote in a bitter, rambling two-page letter that he faxed to television station KABC-TV at about 8am on Tuesday, just before he shot himself.
'It was a grisly scene,' said a police officer. 'Our worst fear was realised...it's just not a solution.
There's just so many ways you find alternatives to doing something so horrific and drastic as this.'
The station called the police, and a police dispatch centre also received a call from a man who stated: 'I just returned home and my whole family's been shot.' Officers went to the home in Wilmington, a small community between Los Angeles and Long Beach, at 8.30am, apparently within minutes of the killings. Officers could still smell the gunshot residue in the air.
In an upstairs room, they found Mr Lupoe and three girls, eight-year-old Brittney and twin five-year-olds, Jaszmin and Jasseley, a revolver by the father's side, and a suicide note nearby.
In another room, they found Mrs Ana Lupoe and two-year-old twins Benjamin and Christian. All were shot in the head, some multiple times.
'It was a grisly scene,' said Los Angeles deputy chief Kenneth Garner. 'Today our worst fear was realised...it's just not a solution. There's just so many ways you find alternatives to doing something so horrific and drastic as this.'
While some were linking the deaths to the economic crisis, evidence has emerged that the Lupoes had been fired after a probe into misconduct, and not been laid off as part of cost-cutting.
Mr Lupoe had in his letter indicated that he and his wife - both medical technicians at Kaiser Permanente Medical Centre West Los Angeles - had been under investigation for misrepresenting their employment in order to obtain childcare.
He claimed that an administrator told them on Dec 23: 'You should not even have bothered to come to work today, you should have blown your brains out.'
The couple complained to the human resources department and eventually were offered an apology, but were fired two days later, said the letter.
'They did nothing to the manager who stated such and did not attempt to assist us in the matter, knowing we have no job and five children under 8 years with no place to go. So here we are,' wrote Mr Lupoe.
He claimed in the letter that his wife planned the killings, but police suspect Mr Lupoe instead. They believe that as early as Monday evening, he roamed from room to room armed with his revolver, shooting his wife and the children.
Early on Tuesday, he faxed the letter to the TV station, called the station threatening to kill his family, then the police. He then turned the weapon on himself, the authorities believe.
Kaiser Permanente confirmed that the Lupoes worked there, but did not comment on his claims.
'It looks like they might have had grounds for his termination,' said police captain Billy Hayes.
Mr Lupoe's grandmother, Josephine Lupoe, 83, told the Los Angeles Times that he was largely consumed by work. 'Every time I called him, he was at work. He worked all the time,' she said.
Co-workers like emergency services employee Vic Tuvera, 58, described Mr Lupoe as 'a good person and a good worker'.
The killings have prompted the authorities to urge people to use community helplines if unable to cope with financial problems.
'Whatever was the cause of the desperation that triggered this violence, there's help out there,' said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. 'There's nothing, no option so horrible that can make you do something as horrific as this.'
ASSOCIATED PRESS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, THE NEW YORK TIMES
