LOS ANGELES – The 9-year-old boy who was one of four fatalities in the Orange, California mass shooting died trying to save his mother from bullets inside a family business last week, said the boy’s father, Rafael. Farias, in an interview with USA Today.
The lifeless body of Matthew Farias was found by officers hugging his gunshot-wounded mother. Blanca Tamayo worked for the United Home’s company and remains hospitalized in critical condition after the tragic shooting.
“He received the bullets that were going towards her,” Farias said in the touching interview. “My angel, he saved his mother from dying.”
Authorities identified the other victims as Luis Tovar, 50, Leticia Solis Guzman, 58, and Jenevieve Raygoza, 28.
“Rest in peace, my beloved son. I miss you and I will fight hard so that there is justice for you,” Farias wrote in a post on his Facebook account.
The suspect, identified as Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez, 44, was also injured and hospitalized. He was charged with four counts of murder and other counts of attempted murder, and could face the death penalty, according to authorities.
The shooting was perpetrated Wednesday in the city of Orange, in southeastern Los Angeles. When the police officers arrived, they started shooting at the building. Police said the shooting affected one of the offices of a company called Unified Homes, a mobile home brokerage.
The suspect could face capital punishment and knew the victims, according to authorities.
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