Fort Hill Soldier and Afghanistan Veteran Reportedly Killed Self, Wife and 2 Others in Murder-Suicide in Kilheen, Texas
A Fort Hill Soldier is suspected as the lone gunman in a murder-suicide of four people late Sunday in Killeen, Texas.
KWTX reports identifies 31-year-old Ata-Se Giffa, who previously served in Afghanistan, as the shooter, with his 28-year-old wife, Dawn, and neighbors Lydia Farina and Larry Guzman also among the victims. Another 41-year-old woman was also shot and remains in critical condition at Baylor Scott & White Memorial Hospital.
Authorities said officers were responding to calls of a domestic disturbance when they arrived to find Farina, 31, and Guzman, 40, shot dead in their home just before 11 p.m. Sunday. As cops arrived, a SWAT team was quickly dispatched to block off the neighborhood, and when officers entered the soldier's home they found both him and his wife already dead.
Witnesses told investigators Giffa found his wife at the home of his neighbors and instantly shot both of them before forcing his wife to return home with him.
"We've never had issues," neighbor Samuel Ernst told reporters of the normally quiet neighborhood. "Never had any complaints about our neighbors. It's a quiet neighborhood, and this is just like a freak incident."
Authorities said officers were recently called to the Giffa home to respond to other complains of a domestic disturbance.
"Unfortunately there were some feelings," said Public Affairs Officer Carroll Smith. "Domestic situations are a whole different scenario than anything else because a lot of times there are men and women that say 'if I can't have you, then nobody will.' I don't know if that was the situation now, but it's a very volatile situation. ... officers have to train on it constantly because they never know what they're going up against. You never know when someone is going to go off and that's the problem that we deal with."
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