Torrance boy, father and grandmother killed in apparent murder-suicide

A Torrance man who police had served hours earlier with a restraining order returned to his family’s home late Monday, shot and killed his 5-year-old son and his mother-in-law, wounded his wife and then apparently killed himself in an incident authorities believe was a murder-suicide.

Police have not released the names of those killed and wounded in the shooting but a neighbor identified the couple as Steve and Jacquie Pick and the 5-year-old boy as their son Tyler. Patti Kimzey, who said she had known the Picks for six years, said the couple also has a 3-year-old daughter who she said was home at the time of the shootings but was not harmed.

Property records indicate the home in the 1900 block of 230th Street where the shootings took place is owned by the Picks.

The shootings came about eight hours after Torrance police responded to a family disturbance call at the house at about 12:15 p.m. Monday, said Torrance Police Officer Dave Crespin. After interviewing the couple, officers served the husband with a court restraining order that his wife previously had obtained. The man then gathered his belongings and left the residence, Crespin said.

The man apparently returned to the home about 8:20 p.m. Shortly after, Torrance police received reports of a shooting at the home. At the house, police found four people with gunshot wounds. The man and his 5-year-old son were dead at the scene, Crespin said.

The other victims, the man’s wife and her mother, were treated by paramedics and taken to a hospital, where the older woman died of her wounds, he said. The wife’s condition was reported as stable and not life-threatening.

“Preliminary investigation shows that this incident was a possible murder-suicide,” Crespin said.

In the quiet suburban neighborhood where the Picks had lived in their blue-gray single-story house for years, Kimzey said longtime friends were in shock. She said the Picks were known to neighbors as a social couple who attended block and holiday house parties. Jacquie Pick, 38, worked in an insurance office and was soft-spoken. Steve Pick, 42, a truck driver, had a lot of tattoos and piercings and a “rocker vibe about him,” said Kimzey, “but he seemed to be a really good dad.”

Tyler was popular on the block, where he could be seen bicycling or chasing the trash truck to see how it worked, a “bright, sweet and articulate” child, Kimzey said.

Jacquie Pick’s mother, who lived in the San Fernando Valley, would drive down to babysit the children, Kimzey said.

Steve Pick lost his job two years ago, and moved out of the house a few months ago, Kimzey said. But she said he still visited the house regularly. Kimzey said she never saw public signs of trouble.

“The only forewarning was when police came earlier that day,” Kimzey said. “This is a shock to the street. This is going to be with us for a very long time.”

No one answered the door at the house this morning, as officers finished clearing the scene and removing yellow police tape.

francisco.varaorta@latimes.com

Times staff writer Molly Hennessy-Fiske contributed to this report.