Trump responds to California hostage situation at Veterans Home

Haley Britzky

Chris Childs, assistant chief of the California Highway Patrol, speaks at a press conference after a hostage situation at the Veterans Home of California. Photo: Stephen Lam / Getty Images

After an almost eight-hour standoff on Friday at the Veterans Home of California, officials found the gunman and three female hostages dead on Friday night, CNN reports.

What happened: The gunman, a former client of the facility identified as 36-year-old Albert Wong, "barged into a going-away party" for some of the employees, per CNN. Law enforcement responded to the scene a little after 10 a.m., following reports of gunfire. Police entered the room at the veterans home believed to be where the hostages were being held shortly before 6 p.m., finding Wong and the hostages dead.

  • The home is the largest veterans care facility in the country, operating as a men's "residential recovery program for veterans" from Iraq and Afghanistan that suffer from brain injury and PTSD, the LA Times reports.
  • California Sen. Bill Dodd told ABC affiliate, ABC7, that Wong had suffered "from post-traumatic stress disorder" after serving in the Middle East, per the LA Times.. He was "asked to leave the facility earlier in the week."
  • Per the L.A. Times, the three women were identified as: executive director of the facility, Christine Loeber, 48; therapist Jen Golick, 42; and San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs and Healthcare System psychologist, Jennifer Gonzales, 29.
Mar 10, 2018 - Politics

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