A 52-year-old father fatally shot his wife and their 17-year-old daughter before turning the gun on himself Thursday morning inside a Lakewood home, according to sheriff’s officials. Investigators said he also fired at his 19-year-old daughter, who was not struck and ran for help.
Detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said they were called just before 8 a.m. to the 5800 block of Lorelei Avenue on a report of an assault with a deadly weapon. Inside, they found three people with gunshot wounds who were pronounced dead at the scene: the alleged gunman, his wife, and their younger daughter. The oldest daughter, described as “extremely distraught,” told deputies she woke to gunfire and saw her father with a handgun moments before he shot at her and then killed himself. Officials emphasized there was no ongoing threat to the neighborhood as they treated the case as a murder-suicide.
Deputies said the 19-year-old called 911 around 7:55 a.m. and reported that her father had shot at her and was lying near her on the floor. Responding deputies detained her outside for questioning as they entered the single-story house, where they found the man in the den and the two victims in separate bedrooms. Authorities identified the shooter as Hector Lionel Alfaro, 52, of Lakewood. The names of the women were not immediately released pending notification of relatives. “It’s hard to process,” said Jorge Fuentes, a brother-in-law who spoke outside the home. “We’re leaning on each other and our community while the investigation continues.”
Investigators said a handgun was recovered, and they were checking whether additional firearms were in the home. Detectives were canvassing the block for surveillance video and interviewing neighbors about any disturbance in the hours before the shooting. Sheriff’s officials said all three of the deceased suffered wounds to the upper torso and were located in different rooms, a detail consistent with the surviving daughter’s account that she was awakened by shots and confronted moments later. Detectives said it was too soon to determine whether there had been prior calls for service to the address or any documented history of domestic violence. A motive remains unknown.
The killings unfolded on a quiet midblock stretch of Lorelei Avenue near South Street, a residential area of single-family homes and tidy yards where neighbors said early-morning sirens shattered a routine weekday. Lakewood, a city of about 80,000 in southeast Los Angeles County, rarely sees multiple-victim shootings inside a home, officials said. City leaders called it a “tragic day” for the community and promised support for the surviving daughter and relatives. Neighbors described the family as private. Some recalled seeing two young women coming and going for school and work; none reported hearing arguments before the gunfire. Detectives said they are also reviewing recent phone records and messages.
Authorities said autopsies will be conducted by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner to confirm the causes and manner of death and to process ballistic evidence. The Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau is leading the investigation. Detectives planned to return to the home this weekend to serve search warrants and collect additional forensic evidence, including shell casings, trajectory measurements and fingerprints. Officials said they expect to release the victims’ names after next of kin are notified and once positive identifications are complete. No criminal charges are anticipated because the suspected shooter is deceased, but a final case packet will be forwarded to prosecutors for review, as is routine in murder-suicide investigations.
By midday Friday, flowers and handwritten notes had begun to appear along the curb. A neighbor who asked to be identified only as Maria said she heard “three or four loud pops” just after sunrise. “Then it was quiet, and suddenly the street was full of deputies,” she said. Another neighbor said the 19-year-old was escorted from the house visibly shaken. “She was crying and could barely talk,” he said. Fuentes, the brother-in-law, said the family was grateful for messages from friends and strangers. “People have opened their homes and helped us take the first steps through this,” he said.
As of Saturday afternoon, investigators had not released a possible motive or any record of previous police responses to the home. The next expected update is the medical examiner’s identification of the victims and autopsy findings, which officials said could come early next week. The Sheriff’s Department said detectives will also determine whether the recovered handgun was legally owned and whether any risk-protection orders had been sought before the shooting.
Author note: Last updated January 17, 2026.