Meadowview shooting suspect had criminal past, police say
Created on Tuesday, 12 June 2012 07:15
By Jacqueline Sahlberg and Andy FurilloPolice said Monday that the man who gunned down a Hmong couple and a houseguest in their Meadowview home over the weekend was a "validated gang member" who had been involved in another shooting just 18 hours before Saturday night's deadly assault.
Xue Lor, 26, who was killed at the Meadowview residence when the victims' son returned fire, shot at a car at the intersection of Ellwood Avenue and Wainscott Way earlier that day, police said. The intersection is about two miles away from the house where the shootout occurred at 10:40 p.m. in the 7600 block of 18th Street.
In the first shooting, a 22-year-old man driving to the store with his 2-year-old daughter in the car was shot in the lower body, said police spokeswoman Michele Gigante. The man's injuries were not life-threatening, and his daughter was not harmed.
Police said Lor was a "high control" parolee who had been released from prison last fall.
They are investigating the shooting on 18th Street as a robbery attempt. Gigante said opium was found in the home and that Lor was allowed in before demanding money from the victims and opening fire.
The Sacramento County Coroner's Office confirmed the identities of the victims as Xai Vang Yang, 61, his wife Lia Vang, 57, and their houseguest Lee Doua Cha, 33.
A fourth victim remains at a hospital in stable but critical condition and is improving, police said.
Lor was killed when a fifth person in the house – identified by family members as the victims' son, Khu Yang, 34 – emerged from another part of the home and shot him.
Lor had an extensive criminal history, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, but his brother, Vue Lor, said on Monday that Xue Lor "was doing good" since his release from prison in October.
Speaking on the balcony outside the family's apartment in North Sacramento, Vue Lor said he was not aware of his brother being involved in gangs or being involved in any criminal activity since his release from prison for being an ex-con in possession of a gun and a stolen vehicle.
He said his brother had a job for a short time working at a Taco Bell before being laid off.
According to Vue Lor, his brother mostly stayed at his parents' apartment and slept on the couch. He said he was not aware of Xue Lor possessing or having access to a gun, and he said it was inconceivable to him that his brother would have shot and killed three people.
"I've known him since I was a little kid, and he wouldn't shoot and kill and rob people like that," Vue Lor said. "Every day, all I see my brother do is take care of my mom and dad, and then drive them around or whatever, take them to the store."
Vue Lor said he saw his brother earlier Saturday at the family apartment. "He was sleeping, and then we talked for about 30 minutes," Vue Lor said. "My brother wouldn't let me go. He wanted to chill with me, but I had to go do my own thing. I didn't know that he passed away until the next day, at midnight."
As police continue their investigation, the victims' family has started funeral preparations. Xai Yang and his wife Lia Vang – considered shamans, or spiritual elders, in their community – will be honored at traditional Hmong funerals, which last three to four days.
Lia Vang's funeral is scheduled to start around 9 a.m. Saturday at Long Cheng Legacy Hall, a Hmong funeral home at 6500 Freeport Blvd., said assistant manager Chang Yang. Xai Yang's funeral will be scheduled after his wife's, Chang Yang added.
Source: modbee.com