A man believed to be the suspect in an attack that killed another man and severely injured a woman and girl in a Montebello apartment was believed to have jumped off the roof of that apartment building, authorities said.
Montebello Police Sgt. Craig Adams also said Friday morning that police were “confident he used the hatchet” in the attack of the three victims, who were found inside an apartment during a sweep of the area by police.
Police believe the suspect then killed himself, possibly by jumping off the roof, but police were waiting on the medical examiner to determine the exact cause of death, Adams said.
Neither of the two decedents had been identified by the medical examiner as of Friday morning.
The second man was found dead inside the apartment, while a woman and girl were taken to a hospital in critical condition with severe head injuries, police said Thursday.
Montebello police said they were called to 414 W. Lohart Ave. just before 2:35 a.m. on a report of unknown trouble and arrived to find one man dead outside behind the apartment building. During a sweep of the complex, they found the three victims inside an apartment.
The suspect was related to the victims, but police have yet to disclose the exact relationship between the four people. They did describe the attack as an act of domestic violence.
The two men have not yet been identified by the medical examiner’s office.
A hatchet was found near the man’s body at the rear of the apartment complex.
A neighbor across the street said she awoke to the sound of a man screaming and metal banging. The man sounded like he was yelling at someone and said five words, 20-year-old Nathalie Perez said, but she couldn’t remember what those words were.
She said the family who lives at the apartment decorated for Halloween and Christmas each year and “seemed happy” a couple years ago as they passed out candy on Halloween.
What sparked the attack and suicide early Thursday morning was not known.