Yountville shooting

On March 9, 2018, a murder–suicide shooting took place at a Veterans Home in Yountville, California.[2] The Pathway Home is a residential treatment program meant to help post-9/11 veterans struggling with PTSD and TBIs reintegrate into society.[3] The shooter, Albert Wong, had attended the program until the home's executive director, Christine Loeber, dismissed him earlier in the week.[4]

Yountville shooting
LocationCalifornia Veterans' Home, Yountville
Date10:20 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. (PST); March 9, 2018
Attack type
Mass shooting, false imprisonment
Weapons
Deaths5 (including the perpetrator and an unborn child)
PerpetratorAlbert Wong

Location

The Pathway Home, was a treatment program run by a non-profit that leased part of a campus of the state-run Veterans Home of California-Yountville. The facility was secured by roaming unarmed 24-hour security personnel for the entire campus, with security cameras installed at The Pathway Homes front door, and hallways as well as a sign in desk.[5] The program worked with veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars with PTSD.[6]

During the incident residents of the nearby veterans home were locked down after reports of an active shooter, and teenagers who were visiting the grounds were evacuated shortly after 2:30 pm.[6]

Incident

A stand-off started at around 10:30 am when a gunman, later identified as Albert Wong, a 36-year-old U.S. Army veteran of the War in Afghanistan, entered the facility during a going away party.[7] The first 911 call of the incident was received around 10:20 am, and by 10:22 am the dispatcher had named Wong as the perpetrator and that he was armed with a semi-automatic weapon and large quantities of ammunition.[8] Wong initially released veterans and other staff members, holding only Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba, a psychologist, Jennifer Golick and Christine Lobber, the clinical and executive directors of Pathway Home respectively.[7][9]

Napa County deputies were some of the first to respond to the scene.[10] At about 10 minutes after the initial 911 call[8] Wong exchanged gunfire with Napa County Sheriff's Department Senior Deputy Steve Lombardi and then retreated into The Pathway Home building.[11] After the shootout there was no further contact with Wong or any of the hostages, although three hostage-negotiation teams were on site.[6] At around 6:00 pm, after negotiators from several agencies failed to contact him, California Highway Patrol officers entered the room and found everyone in it shot to death. [2] His cell phone was later discovered in his parked car.[12]

Wong was found dead of a self-inflicted shotgun wound in the second floor room where he had killed the three female staffers.[11] The Napa County Sheriff’s Coroner determined that Gonzales Shushereba was 26 weeks pregnant at the time of the incident and that her "unborn baby died due to lack of oxygenated blood caused by her mother's death."[9][13] State Senator Bill Dodd reported that it was reasonable to believe that the three hostages were killed during or shortly after the initial exchange of gunfire with officers.[10]

Perpetrator

Albert Wong (36) had been struggling to readjust to civilian life in California after returning from a tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2013. During his service Wong was awarded an Army Commendation Medal, an Army Good Conduct Medal, and campaign stars for fighting global terrorism and for marksmanship. He had held a professional licenses as a security guard and security trainer, and a firearms permit through the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services from 2008.[14]

He was a resident of The Pathway House, for nearly a year of residential treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) until he was expelled for unspecified concerns about threatening behavior.[15] A family member told reporters that Wong had reportedly told them that he was angry at staff members and wanted to get back at them after he had been found with knives at the facility and told to leave. Wong reported "wanted to get back at them, talk to them, yell at them, not to kill them".[8]

A family member of one of the victims, claimed "People were notified he was violent. Nothing was done. All the proper people were notified...the sheriffs department, the vets' health. Everybody knew."[5]

Aftermath

The Pathway Home is the subject of the 2014 documentary film, Of Men and War.[16] After the shootings, The Pathway Home suspended operations indefinitely and its clients were placed with other programs.[17][18] On August 31 its board members told reporters that the nonprofit plan to terminate the lease, as there was little belief they could effectively aid veterans in the location.[19]

The Three Brave Women fund was established and been used to distribute monetary aid to the families of the victims.[20]

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References
  1. Page 66 of 94
  2. Victoria Kim and Joseph Serna (March 10, 2018). "Gunman, three hostages found dead at Yountville veterans facility: 'These brave women' killed". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  3. Poole, Robert M. (September 2010). "The Pathway Home Makes Inroads in Treating PTSD". Smithsonian Magazine. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  4. Eli Rosenberg and Alex Horton (March 10, 2018). "Gunman was treated at veterans facility before he killed three workers there, officials say". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  5. "Future of Pathway Home in question as investigators look into security, gunman". SFGate. March 12, 2018. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  6. AP (March 10, 2018). "TIMELINE: Authorities know ID of gunman at North Bay veterans home". KRON. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  7. Dolan, Maura (March 12, 2018). "Witness recounts harrowing entry of gunman at The Pathway Home in Yountville". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  8. "Gunman said he 'wanted to get back' at Yountville veterans workers". Petaluma Argus Courier. March 12, 2018. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  9. "Family Mourns Pregnant Napa County Hostage Victim". Napa Valley Patch. New York, NY: Patch Media. March 11, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  10. "Time Lapse Questioned in Veterans Home Standoff, Slayings". NBC Bay Area. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  11. "Sheriff releases name of deputy who responded to fatal shooting in Yountville". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises. March 14, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  12. Kevin Fagan, Jenna Lyons and Lizzie Johnson (March 10, 2018). "Yountville killer Albert Wong hoped Pathway Home could help him. It couldn't". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  13. "Coroner: Yountville shooter Wong took his own life after killing clinicians". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises. March 20, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  14. Fletcher, Ed (March 10, 2018). "Friends of Yountville shooter describe his military life, civilian struggles". The Sacramento Bee. ISSN 0890-5738. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  15. "Army vet who killed caregivers in Yountville lost guard license amid troubles". SFGate. March 13, 2018. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  16. Yune, Howard (May 26, 2016). "Film showcasing Pathway Home veterans runs on TV on Memorial Day". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  17. "Yountville's Pathway Home closing indefinitely following fatal shootings". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises. March 14, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  18. Warren, Christi (April 17, 2018). "Slow recovery underway at Yountville veterans campus after deadly shooting". The Press Democrat. Santa Rosa, CA: Sonoma Media Investments, LLC. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  19. "Yountville shootings claim another casualty: Veterans' help home won't reopen". SFChronicle.com. July 22, 2018. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  20. FOX. "Six months later, loved ones remember three clinicians killed in Yountville shooting". KTVU. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
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