A father reportedly killed his three daughters and another adult at a Sacramento church Monday night before turning the gun on himself. The mother revealed to seek a restraining order last April due to fear for their safety, court documents indicate.
According to the Sacramento County Coroner's office, the man was identified as David Mora Rojas, 39. His three daughters have been identified as 9-year-old Samarah Mora Gutierrez, 10-year-old Samantha Mora Gutierrez, and 13-year-old Samia Mora Gutierrez. While another adult, 59-year-old Nathaniel Kong, who was supervising the family visit, was also killed in the shooting.
According to Sacramento County Sheriff's Sgt. Rod Grassmann, Mora had been living at the church. Mora's estranged girlfriend had been with him for about 15 years. However, she sought a domestic violence restraining order against him last April, describing him as jealous and mentally unstable.
"He threatened to kill me if he ever caught me cheating... He has choked me in the past," the filing said. Mora "said that he has not killed me because he would not know where to go with the children," said Illeana Gutierrez Rios, Mora's long-time partner. She also claimed that he was hospitalized for a week in April after "expressing a desire to commit suicide."
Mora was taken into custody for a mental health evaluation last April 17, and nine days later, a temporary restraining order was granted. It banned him from possessing a gun or ammunition, and investigators were trying to discover how he obtained the weapon used in the killing. A five-year restraining order was imposed on May 19. It specified that Mora was only allowed to supervise his daughters' visits for up to four hours per week with a mutually agreed-upon chaperone. He also was required to take anger management courses.
The attack happened on Monday at 5:00 pm local time. A SWAT team was dispatched and rushed to the church after someone upstairs in the building heard the shooting. A call was made to emergency services at 5.07 pm reporting a shooting inside the church. Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District Capt. Parker Wilbourn confirmed that no one else in The Church in the Arden-Arcade area at the time of the shooting was involved and no one at the scene required medical assistance. It's not clear whether a service or event was happening at the church during the fatal killing.Police also urged people to stay away from the church premises as the investigation is still ongoing.
Howe and Ethan and Howe and Cottage have a large police presence due to a shooting , please avoid the area. The Sheriffs Office PIO will be at the command Post located at the Home Depot on Howe and cottage.
— Sacramento Sheriff (@sacsheriff) March 1, 2022
The district officials added that an emotional support team and chaplains from the Sacramento Police Department would provide grief counseling and support. According to Gun Violence Archive, the incident was the 70th mass shooting of 2022 in the United States, with reportedly at least four people injured or killed, including the attacker.
