Two Children Killed in Murder-Suicide in Silver Lake

By JACK NOYES

Updated 4:59 PM PDT, Sat, Nov 22, 2008

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Names were released for the 7-year-old girl and her 9-year-old brother killed by their father, who also shot and wounded their mother in the leg before he shot and killed himself, police said.

Jorge Cruz Iraheta, 31, was estranged from his wife and reportedly subject to a restraining order when he entered his wife Marta's home in the 4200 block of Normal Avenue in Silver Lake sometime after 9 p.m. Friday. There, he shot his daughter, Ashley, his son, Andres, and his 35-year-old wife, according to Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman Julianne Sohn.

He then turned the gun on himself, Sohn said.

Police initially responded to a domestic violence call at the family's home at about 8:55 p.m. Friday, Sohn said, but Iraheta was not there when they arrived.

The officers then left to search for Iraheta at another address, according to Sohn.

Roughly 50 minutes later, police began receiving calls about shots being fired and people screaming at the family's home, prompting officers to return to the Silver Lake home, Los Angeles police Capt. Paul Hernandez, III said.

When police arrived back at the Iraheta home, Marta was found shot in the leg, while her husband and their two children were declared dead at the scene.

Marta was in stable condition at a local hospital, according to Sohn. She somehow managed to escape during the flurry of violence, LAPD officer Jason Lee said earlier.