Iraq War veteran, 11-year-old girl killed in murder-suicide

Authorities reported that police are searching for the mother, who may be hurt, of an Iraq War veteran who shot and killed his 11-year-old sister before taking his own life. In California on Thursday, police said Abel Gutierrez, 27, fatally shot his sister, Lucero, in the murder-suicide. Family members reported to police that he may have suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). When police searched the home, after discovering the two dead bodies, they found clues that the mother, Martha Gutierrez, 52, might be hurt, but there was no sign of her.

“It’s horrible. We have no idea where she is. We are desperately trying to find her,” Gilroy police Sgt. Chad Gallacinao reported to The Associated Press. Abel Gutierrez had contact with police as recently as late February. Family members reported to the San Jose Mercury News that the young veteran said he wanted to kill himself “all the time” and would ask if that would hurt them. “He said he killed a lot of people in Iraq. It was in his conscience, and he didn’t want to live anymore,” said Faustino Gutierrez, 46, Martha Gutierrez’s brother. Abel Gutierrez served in the Army and had recently returned from Iraq.