LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A man apparently despondent about losing his job killed his wife and five children before turning the gun on himself, officials said Tuesday.
The bodies of five children and two adults -- the children's mother and father -- were found Tuesday in a home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Wilmington. Among the dead, authorities said, were an 8-year-old girl and two sets of twins -- 5-year-old girls and 2-year-old boys.
Ervin Lupoe apparently called 911 and contacted a television station by fax before committing suicide, authorities said.
"No words can describe this tragedy," said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. "There's no way to comprehend this unspeakable act."
Police were alerted by KABC-TV, who said the station had received a faxed letter and a call from an individual who was threatening suicide.
Responding officers found all seven bodies inside the home, said Capt. William Hayes. Watch emergency crews arrive at the home »
Nearly simultaneously with the KABC call, a man called 911 and reported coming home and finding his family dead, Hayes said. But, Deputy Police Chief Kenneth Garner said, the man told KABC he had killed them.
A suicide note found at the scene "indicated a business dispute" between Lupoe and Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center, Hayes said. In the faxed note to KABC, the man said he was despondent over an employment situation, police said.
Kaiser Permanente said Lupoe and his wife, Ana, were both former employees of the medical center. Both had been terminated, Hayes said, with Lupoe's termination coming last week. It appears there were grounds for the termination, and it did not come as a result of layoffs, he said.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/28/...nia/index.html