A man fatally shoots his ex-girlfriend and then himself in Bellflower, hours after she filed for a restraining order, officials say

Bellflower, Calif. (KABC) — A man with a history of domestic violence shot and killed his ex-girlfriend in her Bellflower home, wounded her adult son and then fatally shot himself in the head, officials say.

The victim had recently filed for a restraining order against her ex at the Whittier courthouse on the same day. According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, officers have been called to the home 16 times since 2021 for domestic violence incidents – all cases involving the suspect, the woman and her adult son. Seven of them were only since June of this year.

On Tuesday, officers were called to the home in the 8500 block of Artesia Boulevard around 11:30 p.m. on a report of a gunshot victim. They found a 26-year-old man – the victim’s son – suffering from a gunshot wound to the hip.

He told officers he was in his room when the suspect broke into the apartment, entered his room and shot him. The shooter then turned to his ex-girlfriend’s room.

As the injured son left the apartment, “he heard his mother’s screams and a second gunshot,” the sheriff’s statement said.

Officers were talking to the 26-year-old outside the apartment when they suddenly heard a single gunshot inside the apartment, authorities said.

“Officers tactically entered the residence and found a 54-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to the head and a 59-year-old man with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head,” the sheriff’s department said.

The woman and suspect were pronounced dead at the scene. The injured son was transported to a hospital in stable condition.

The female victim and the shooter had a previous relationship, investigators said.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Homicide Unit at (323) 890-5500. Tipsters who would prefer to share information anonymously can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS (8477).