LONG BEACH, Calif. (CNS) -A 77-year-old suspect has been arrested in the deadly shooting of Long Beach Fire Department Captain Dave Rosa at the Covenant Manor.
Thomas Kim, 77, was arrested on one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of arson. Kim is currently being held on $2 million bail.
The Long Beach Fire Department firefighters had been sent to Covenant Manor, an 11-story building in the 600 block of East Fourth Street, about 3:50 a.m. in response to a report of a possible explosion. A fire alarm had been set off, and the sprinkler system had been activated, the LBFD reported.
Capt. Dave Rosa, 45, a 17-year veteran with a wife and two children, was fatally wounded in the shooting, the LBFD reported. The other firefighter, who is in his 30s, was hospitalized in stable condition. His name was not released. A third person, described only as a civilian, was hospitalized in unknown condition. According to reports from the scene, that victim is a resident at Covenant Manor.
Residents were evacuated from the building as a precaution and were being stopped from returning as an investigation was being carried out, a process that was continuing as of midmorning.
A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department bomb squad was sent to examine two "suspicious devices" found at the scene, Pratt said.
"The initial reports came in that there was some type of explosion at the location," LBFD Chief Mike Duree said in a briefing at Saint Mary Medical Center about four hours after the first alarm came in.
"At 3:51 a.m., occupants reported the smell of ... gasoline," Duree said. "Occupants were instructed to shelter in place. As fire units made their way to the reported location, they noticed that windows had been blown out ... in the general vicinity of an affected unit, and that sprinklers had been activated. At 3:59 a.m., the fire units stated they had knocked down the initial fire. At 4:08 a.m., reports of shots were fire at the location. We had two firefighters that were shot."
Duree said he was "saddened to report ... fire Capt. Dave Rosa -- a 45-year-old assigned to Fire Station 10, a captain for the Long Beach Fire Department for the last six and a half years and a member of the Long Beach Fire Department for the last 17 years -- was killed in the line of duty this morning when he responded to that structure fire. He leaves behind a wife and two children."
It is with deep sadness and tremendous grief that we announce that Captain David Rosa has died from injuries sustained from a gunshot wound he sustained at an emergency incident. Capt. Rosa is a 17 year veteran of our department and is assigned to Station 10. pic.twitter.com/np03fecLQb
— Long Beach Fire (CA) (@lbfd) June 25, 2018
