The Region - News from Feb. 24, 1987

A Paramount man who shot and killed his estranged wife in front of hundreds of spectators at a soccer match and then shot himself was hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said. Juan Zendejas, 44, was on life support systems at Saint Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, a spokeswoman said. Magdalena Zendejas, 36, of Paramount, was delivering food to her husband near a large crowd watching a soccer match in the city’s Progress Park when he walked up and shot her five times in the chest with a pistol, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said. An off-duty Burbank policeman who was a witness said Zendejas then pointed the gun at his head and fired, sheriff’s Sgt. Tom Gordon said. Gordon said hundreds of people watching a soccer match and nearby baseball and softball games saw the shooting. The couple had been separated on and off for about a year and lately the husband had been living out of his car, authorities said.