Iraq War Vet Abel Gutierrez Killed 11yo Sister & Self Mom Martha Gutierrez Missing

**Whisper** · March 17th, 2012, 07:03 PM

GILROY, Calif. --
[...]
Officers found Abel Gutierrez, 27, and his 11-year-old sister, Lucero Gutierrez, dead in their apartment Wednesday evening.
Their mother, 52-year-old Martha Gutierrez, was not at home when police arrived and her whereabouts remain unknown.
However, investigators say there is evidence she may be wounded.
Neighbors say Abel Gutierrez had appeared to be depressed since leaving the Army.
Gutierrez had recently returned from Iraq.
Police were called to his apartment late last month, but police say Gutierrez did not seem dangerous and did not meet the criteria to place on a psychiatric hold.
Family members, however, told the San Jose Mercury News that Gutierrez said that he wanted to kill himself "all the time."
Faustino Gutierrez, 46, Martha Gutierrez's brother, said the young veteran would sit on a sofa twirling a handgun and also brandished a rifle inside the family's apartment.
"He said he killed a lot of people in Iraq," Faustino Gutierrez said.
"It was in his conscience, and he didn't want to live anymore."
A niece, Kristell Gutierrez, said she knew her uncle was "very mean" to his mother and blamed her for his father leaving the family.
"She was scared of her son," Fernandez told the Mercury News.
Police ask that anyone with information about Martha Gutierrez's whereabouts call them at (408) 846-0350.

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktl...,1932006.story

'We heard someone was killed... I begged it wouldn't be her': Heartbreak as girl, 11, is shot by PTSD veteran brother in tragic murder-suicidePolice were called to the house two weeks earlier but decided Abel Gutierrez was not dangerous despite suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder
His sister Lucero was 'the sweetest little girl', according to neighbours
Mother missing after shootout at apartment in Gilroy, California

An Iraq War veteran shot and killed his 11-year-old sister before turning the gun on himself in a murder-suicide on Wednesday night.
Police are searching for the mother of shooter Abel Gutierrez and his sister Lucero, and fear that she may also have been killed or injured.
An 11-year-old playmate of Lucero spoke of his grief at her death, saying: 'When we got the call that someone was killed, I was begging and begging that it wasn’t Lucero.'
The tragic killing came just two weeks after police were called to the family's apartment in Gilroy, California but judged that Gutierrez, 27, who is thought to have suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, was not dangerous.
Authorities are now concentrating on the search for the killer's mother Martha Gutierrez, 52.
'It's horrible. We have no idea where she is,' Gilroy police Chad Gallacinao said. 'We are desperately trying to find her.'
Responding officers found the bodies of Gutierrez and Lucero dead from gunshot wounds.
There was no sign of their mother. However, police found clues inside the home that indicated she may be seriously hurt - or worse.
'We do believe based on the evidence at the scene that she is either critically wounded or deceased,' Mr Gallacinao said.
An Iraq War veteran shot and killed his 11-year-old sister before turning the gun on himself in a murder-suicide on Wednesday night.
Police are searching for the mother of shooter Abel Gutierrez and his sister Lucero, and fear that she may also have been killed or injured.
An 11-year-old playmate of Lucero spoke of his grief at her death, saying: 'When we got the call that someone was killed, I was begging and begging that it wasn’t Lucero.'
The tragic killing came just two weeks after police were called to the family's apartment in Gilroy, California but judged that Gutierrez, 27, who is thought to have suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, was not dangerous.
Authorities are now concentrating on the search for the killer's mother Martha Gutierrez, 52.
'It's horrible. We have no idea where she is,' Gilroy police Chad Gallacinao said. 'We are desperately trying to find her.'

Police were called to the Gutierrez apartment on Wednesday night after a roommate came home, suspected something was wrong, and went back outside.
Responding officers found the bodies of Gutierrez and Lucero dead from gunshot wounds.
There was no sign of their mother. However, police found clues inside the home that indicated she may be seriously hurt - or worse.
'We do believe based on the evidence at the scene that she is either critically wounded or deceased,' Mr Gallacinao said.
amily members told the San Jose Mercury News that Gutierrez often said that he wanted to kill himself 'all the time' and would ask if that would hurt them.
A niece, Kristell Gutierrez, said she knew her uncle was 'very mean' to his mother and blamed her for his father leaving the family.
[...]
About two weeks ago, Martha Gutierrez apparently went to the apartment manager, saying she was 'scared of her son'.
Mario Reyes, a neighbour who lives beneath the Gutierrez family, told KNTV-TV that he thought he heard a scuffle - but no gunshots - around the time police say the shooting occurred.
Mr Gallacinao said officers found at least two firearms used in the killings, but he would not say whether Gutierrez left a suicide note.
Abel Gutierrez served in the Army and had recently returned from Iraq. His family suspected he was suffering from PTSD, and he apparently smoked marijuana to deal with his depression.
Police had been called to his apartment on February 29, but Gutierrez did not seem dangerous and did not meet the criteria to be placed on a psychiatric hold, according to Mr Gallacinao.
Instead, police began working with the family and Office of Veterans Affairs in Palo Alto to help him.
Gutierrez had been receiving care at a VA facility in Puget Sound, Washington, confirmed a spokesman for the Department of Veterans Affairs Care System.
Friends of the family paid tribute to Lucero, who was described as a 'sweet little girl'.
A woman named Emily who lives nearby told the Gilroy Dispatch the 11-year-old was 'the best little girl in the world.
Her son Julian, also 11, used to play with Power Rangers with Lucero, and said he had prayed that she would be safe when he first heard about the violence.
A six-year-old neighbour, Evenny, also remembered the victim happily, and said: 'We were all best friends.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz1pPxUfRlb

Veteran Abel Gutierrez killed his 11-year-old sister Lucero

Martha Gutierrez

Tributes: Neighbours called Lucero a 'sweet little girl' and said she got on well with other local children

**Whisper** · March 18th, 2012, 11:05 PM

Mom of Iraq War vet who killed sister, self also feared dead

Police have called off the search for a California woman believed to have been killed by her son, an Iraq War veteran who last week killed his 11-year-old sister and then himself, officials said.

The man, Abel Gutierrez, 27, had recently returned from a second tour. His body and that of his 11-year-old sister were found last week in his mother's apartment in Gilroy, Calif., the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

His mother, Martha Gutierrez, has not been seen since her children’s deaths, police told the Los Angeles Times. Their bodies were found in the family’s apartment.
Police were called to the Gutierrez home last month after receiving neighbor complaints that Abel Gutierrez was angrily raging against the Taliban at night, the Chronicle reported. Relatives said that after his second tour, he would wake screaming and that he swore at people in public.

[...]
But Abel Gutierrez’s Ford Mustang had evidence indicating there had been a violent confrontation, police said.

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/20...so-feared-dead