A Los Angeles county firefighter shot and killed his wife, a sheriff’s deputy, in their home Sunday before turning the gun on himself after a family trip to Disneyland.
Officers responded to a call of a woman screaming in a La Canada Flintridge home around 9:50 p.m., Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Barraza told the Daily News.
Inside, they found an off-duty member of the force dead from a gunshot wound. Cecilia Hoschet was 32 and had been on the force for two years, working at the inmate reception center at the county jail, police said.
“We lost a wonderful deputy last night,” Sheriff Jim McDonnell said in a statement. “Deputy Cecilia Hoschet impressed everyone she met at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department with her positive and helpful approach to her work. She enjoyed being a deputy and really liked people. She will be missed.”
The couple’s 6-year-old son was in their home at the time, KTLA reported. The husband dropped the boy off with a relative after shooting dead Hoschet, police said.
Later that night, officers found the body of the husband, a five-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, at a fire facility some 15 miles away from the home in Pacoima, Barraza said. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
Authorities recovered the man’s weapon and have no other suspects in the deputy’s murder. The killer has been identified as James M. Taylor, KCBS-TV reported.
“Today is a sad day for all public safety personnel in L.A. County,” Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl L. Osby said in a statement. “On behalf of the entire Fire Department, we extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends facing the pain of their loss. Our thoughts are with everyone who was impacted by this tragedy.”
Police are looking into whether a radio call alerting police to two dead bodies – or DBs for short – came from the 35-year-old Taylor, according to the LA Times.
“There’s going to be one DB,” a man says in the dispatch. “No assailant. You can let them know it’s clear. Also, there’s going to be one DB. Thank you and good night.”
A car in the driveway at the murder scene Monday had a child’s car seat in the back and a receipt from Disneyland dated Sunday, according to the Associated Press.
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