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Officials say a father who shot his three daughters and another individual before fatally shooting himself in a California church was not supposed to own a gun.
Investigators are trying to figure out how the father was able to get the gun he used in the shooting at a church in Sacramento on Monday. The man had a restraining order taken out against him, which under California law prohibits him from owning a firearm, the Associated Press reported.
Around 5 p.m. on Monday, a worker in the church heard gunshots and called 911. When police arrived, they found the body of an adult male along with his three children inside the sanctuary. A fifth individual was also killed in the shooting, ABC News reported.
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office said it believes the shooting happened during a court-ordered supervised visit between the alleged gunman, later identified as David Fidel Mora-Rojas, a chaperone and his three children aged 9, 10 and 13.
Authorities say the shooter was estranged from the mother of his children who had taken out a restraining against him. The mother was not in the church at the time of the shooting. Police are treating the incident as a case of domestic violence, the AP reported.
"There are still going to be a lot of unanswered questions," Sacramento Sheriff Scott Jones previously told KTXL "Obviously, that doesn't change the tragedy that occurred here."
Newsweek has reached out to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office for comment.
Joyce Bilyeu, deputy director of the Sacramento Regional Family Justice Center, said victims can think of churches as safe places, but that can give a false sense of security, according to AP.
"Generally a lot of people think a church is a safe place," Bilyeu said. But "there's no metal detectors in a church."
It wasn't immediately clear how many other people were in the building at the time of the shooting or if the victims were a member of the organization. The Church's website said it was holding its services virtually. However, its website now says it's down due to maintenance.
"There's a lot of ways that this could have unfolded and obviously, it's a tragedy no matter how it unfolds," Sacramento County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Sgt. Rod Grassmann said during a press conference.
"There's just no explanation of how these violence and domestic relationships go bad, especially when the victim appears to do everything right and reach out for help," he added.
Anyone seeking help should call The National Domestic Violence Hotline, a free and confidential hotline available 24/7 that can be reached on 1-800-799-7233 or TTY 1-800-787-3224. The Hotline also provides information on local resources. For more information visit https://www.thehotline.org/.
This is a developing story and will be updated when more information becomes available.
Update 3/01/22, 5:02 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
