A resident of a senior living facility in Long Beach, Calif., shot and killed a veteran fire captain who was responding to reports of an explosion in the high-rise apartment complex Monday morning, police officials said.
Authorities arrested Thomas Kim, a 77-year-old resident of the retirement home, on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and arson. Police are investigating whether Kim intentionally set fire to the building in an attempt to ambush responding firefighters, Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna said in a news conference. Kim is being held on $2 million bail. He has not filed a plea, and no lawyer for him could be located.
Capt. David Rosa, a 17-year veteran of the Long Beach Fire Department, was fatally shot at about 4 a.m. local time Monday while investigating reports of an explosion and fire that blew out the windows of an apartment unit and activated the retirement home’s sprinkler system, Long Beach Fire Chief Mike Duree said. He was 45.
Another firefighter, Ernesto Torres, 35, as well as an elderly resident of the complex, were also struck by gunfire. Torres, a 12-year veteran, was treated and released from a hospital, while the injured resident remained hospitalized in stable but critical condition on Monday, fire authorities said.
“This is an emotional day for all of us,” Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia said in the news conference. “Long Beach really lost a hero today.”
Residents of the retirement home, a building with 100 apartments for low-income seniors or disabled adults, began reporting a strong smell of gasoline and the sound of a blast before 4 a.m.
“I heard a bang, then I heard glass breaking or scattering across the floor,” ninth-floor resident Ronald Keller told the Long Beach Press-Telegram. “I didn’t know what was going on.”
As responding firefighters made their way upstairs, shots were fired, Duree said.
“Patrol officers immediately started to search for the shooter as we normally do in these situations, Luna said. “We try and isolate him and save anybody else from being shot.”
As resident Rick Convay was evacuating the building, he saw a man sitting on the stairs between the third and second floor with a gun in his hand, Convay told CBS Los Angeles. Convay said he and a group of residents took a different route out of the building before telling police about the man.
Police activated a SWAT team and managed to safely take the suspected gunman into custody, Luna said. Authorities recovered a revolver at the scene and found two suspicious devices in Kim’s second-floor apartment, where the explosion took place, Luna said.
Firefighters stand near a photo of Capt. David Rosa at a June 25 news conference in Long Beach. (Jae C. Hong/AP)
“I am a little frustrated,” Luna said. “There’s still a large puzzle that we’re trying to put together. There’s a lot of information that we don’t know yet.”
Asked whether Kim is suspected of setting the fires with the intention of shooting firefighters, Luna said, “that is a possibility.”
“That is one option that we’re looking at,” he added. “That will be investigated, because obviously if that’s the case, we want to know why.”
Police are still investigating Kim’s history. So far they have found record of an arrest many years ago for auto theft, Luna said.
His brother, George Kim, told the Press-Telegram that he hasn’t spoken to Thomas Kim in nearly 30 years. Thomas Kim and his ex-wife have one daughter, his brother said.
“His wife left him because he gambled,” George Kim told the Press-Telegram. Thomas Kim immigrated to the United States in the 1960s and graduated from college before working as a civil engineer in the Los Angeles area. He also worked in construction in Korea and Saudi Arabia before moving back to the United States, the Press-Telegram reported.
About 80 senior residents of the Long Beach retirement home were evacuated from the home as a result of the shooting. They took shelter at a local community center, where the Red Cross provided medical care. They were expected to return home by the end of the day, the Press-Telegram reported.
On Monday afternoon, Rosa’s body was escorted with full honors from the hospital to the coroner’s office. Firefighters stood in salute as a 16-vehicle procession of firetrucks, motorcycles and other law enforcement vehicles moved through the streets. Later that night, a vigil was held at Fire Station No. 10, where Rosa served as captain for more than six years.
“Our deepest condolences go out to Captain Rosa’s family, friends and the entire Long Beach Fire Department as they mourn his tragic death,” California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) said in a statement. He ordered flags at the capitol to be flown at half-staff.
Firefighters salute during a procession for Capt. Dave Rosa, who was killed while responding to an emergency at a senior living facility in Long Beach on June 25. (Jae C. Hong/AP)
Rosa is survived by his wife, Lynley, and sons Alec, 25, and Samuel, 16, the governor’s statement said.
Duree described Rosa as a “beloved” member of the department, as well as a “staunch family man, good husband, good father” and “just a wonderful, wonderful person.”
“Firefighters across the region, across our state and across our country right now are putting themselves in harm’s way in service to their community,” Duree said. “Capt. Rosa answered that call this morning in service to his community, and he paid the ultimate sacrifice in doing so.”