Victims ID'd in Bizarre Torrance Standoff

A deadly standoff in Torrance ended with deputies dragging a naked man out of an apartment

Two victims found stabbed to death in an apartment building in Torrance were identified as mother and daughter, family members said late Monday morning.

Suzy Brooks, 58, and her daughter Tracie Brooks, 32, were found dead at the Torrance Park Villas, located in the 21800 block of South Vermont Avenue.

"All I could say was, 'Oh my gosh. I can't believe what's happening,'" neighbor Alphy Quintos said.

Suzy Brooks worked for a school district, and Tracie Brooks just graduated from nursing school, family members told NBC4.

Tracie Brooks was planning a "happily ever after life" with Virgil Tyrone Tate, a 30-year-old man identified as a suspect in the case, family members said.

Tate was arrested Sunday night after barricading himself in the back bedroom of the apartment for nearly two hours, according to police. He is currently being held on $1 million bail.

"We got a call from someone claiming a man was wielding a knife here," said Lt. Holly Francisco of the sheriff's department. "When we arrived, the suspect had locked himself in the backroom with one of the victims."

SWAT officers made entry and found a woman stabbed to death in a front room and another in the back bedroom with the suspect. As they exited the apartment, news crews at the scene captured video of Tate, naked and yelling, "I didn't do this s---."

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Tate was renting a room from the mother's boyfriend. Deputies believe all four of them lived together.

Another man, who called police, was injured in the incident and taken to Harbor-UCLA Hospital just across the street from the apartment complex.

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