Man charged in hostage attack

A former prison guard accused of fatally shooting a 60-year-old man while holding him and his family hostage was charged Monday with murder, attempted murder and aggravated assault, prosecutors said.

According to authorities, Alwyn Gibson II, 24, of Fairfield, Texas, was upset over a failed romantic relationship when he stormed the Irvine home of his ex-girlfriend’s family.

He is charged with fatally shooting her father and wounding her mother and brother before surrendering to police early Saturday.

Gibson is charged with one felony count of special circumstances murder during a robbery, two felony counts of attempted murder and one felony count of aggravated assault; he also faces a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury with a firearm. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Prosecutors said the Le family -- father, mother and two sons -- was having dinner when Gibson arrived. His ex-girlfriend no longer lived at the house and was not there at the time.

Once inside, prosecutors said, Gibson demanded money, searched through a purse and then shot the mother, Ly Le, 47, in the arm.

Gibson, who prosecutors said used a large citrus fruit as a makeshift silencer during the attack, then walked upstairs with the father and one son. He forced De Ngoc Le, 60, and Michael Le, 22, to kneel in an upstairs bedroom and shot the father in the back of the head and the son in the back of the neck, prosecutors said.

Michael Le was released from the hospital Sunday.

Gibson, who is being held without bail, is scheduled to be arraigned today at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.

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paloma.esquivel@latimes.com