Four Die in Valinda Murders, Suicide : Tragedy: Boyfriend kills model, two children and self in violent outburst, police say.

A violent argument between an attractive, blond model and movie extra and her unemployed boyfriend ended in tragedy early Monday in Valinda when the enraged man shot and killed the woman, the couple’s two small children and himself, authorities said. Sheriff’s SWAT deputies found the bodies of Gary Atwood, 35, Tammy Baumberger, 31, and their two children, Jessica Atwood, 6, and Tyler Atwood, 4, inside the family home on Vanderwell Avenue.

A 9-millimeter semiautomatic handgun was found in the home.

Baumberger, who prided herself on her cooking and sewing skills, was described by one neighbor as a “Barbie doll.”

She had worked for a number of years modeling clothes and had appeared in Miller’s Outpost ads.

But more recently, the slain woman’s mother said, her daughter was focusing on acting. She worked as an extra on such television shows as “Simon & Simon,” “Cheers,” and “Deep Space Nine,” a recent “Star Trek” spinoff.

Donna Baumberger, who lives in nearby La Puente, said her daughter phoned her shortly before the shootings. “‘He’s going to kill us all!”’ Donna Baumberger said her daughter managed to say before the line went dead.

By the time Donna Baumberger arrived at the home, all four family members were dead, she said.

“I can’t believe anybody would kill two little kids, two little innocent kids,” she said. “It just doesn’t make sense at all.”

Atwood grew up in the well-kept Vanderwell Avenue home with his parents, Edna and Jack. As a youth, neighbors said, he had a reputation as a wild youngster who would sometimes get into fights.

After his father died about seven years ago, Atwood moved into the house and his mother lived part of the year there and with her other children out of state, neighbor Don Meyers said.

Tammy Baumberger moved in about seven years ago, but the couple were argumentative from the beginning, neighbors said. Meyers recalled seeing Atwood chase Baumberger on a motorcycle as the woman fled on foot down the street.

Donna Baumberger said Atwood had a drinking problem that he attempted to conquer with mixed results, she said. Periods of tranquillity alternated with arguments, she said. But with the birth of the two children, the family seemed to calm down.

“He was awfully good with the children,” neighbor Cecile Gilbertson said of Atwood.

Other neighbors said Atwood worked dutifully on his immaculate yard and did maintenance work on his truck. He also helped out other neighbors with their gardening.

But Donna Baumberger said Atwood’s fight with alcohol had recently resumed and her daughter had threatened to leave him. The pressure had also increased because Atwood, a carpenter, had been unemployed for the past six months, she said.

On Monday, neighbor Pauline Souza flew the flag in her front yard at half-staff in honor of the dead family. She recalled Atwood smiling happily recently after she told him that she was proud that he had finally settled down, was a hard worker and had a nice family.

“I thought he had grown up,” Souza said tearfully of Atwood. “I thought his family was living the American dream.”