Police: Marine Told Mother About Killings : Violence: Investigators say that Jeffrey Steven Gibson called his mother from a gas station pay phone and confessed that he had just shot his ex-wife and their daughter.

Shortly after he went on a shooting rampage that left his ex-wife and daughter dead and another woman seriously wounded, Jeffrey Steven Gibson called his mother and confessed to the crime, police said Monday.

“He admitted it to his mother,” said San Clemente Police Lt. Hector Riva.

Gibson used a pay phone at a Mission Viejo gas station to talk to his mother about an hour after Saturday’s 10:15 p.m. shooting, authorities said. He was still on the phone when police arrested him. A cocked and loaded .45-caliber handgun was found in the front seat of his car.

Riva said that Gibson’s mother had been interviewed by detectives, but he declined to elaborate on what she said.

According to police, Gibson, 32, shot and killed Kristina (Tina) Gibson, 26, and Amber Gibson, 5, and wounded Wendy Johnson, 32.

Gibson, a decorated Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder and was being held at the mental health ward of the Orange County Jail without bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned today.

Police contend that Gibson burst into his ex-wife’s San Clemente apartment in the 200 block of Avenida del Poniente and first shot Johnson, who was Kristina Gibson’s roommate. Then he went into a bedroom and turned his handgun on his daughter and ex-wife, police said.

Johnson’s 8-year-old son, Lucas, who was also in the apartment, was apparently unnoticed and was not harmed.

“He was under the covers and apparently slept through it,” said Peter Johnson, Wendy’s estranged husband.

Wendy Johnson, who was shot in the chest, remained in serious but stable condition Monday at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo.

“Wendy is recovering nicely,” her husband said.

Relatives said that Kristina Gibson left her husband last July because he was physically abusive. The couple’s divorce was finalized on May 12. Relatives also said that Kristina Gibson had lodged complaints with military authorities about the abuse.

Kristina Gibson’s mother, Odile Pullin, said Monday, “In part, I blame the military for this. They knew this boy had a problem.”

As a Marine, Jeffrey Gibson reached the rank of staff sergeant. He served in the Persian Gulf War and had earned several good conduct commendations during his career.

Peter Johnson said that he was aware that Kristina Gibson had had problems with her ex-husband with things such as slashed tires and sugar in her car’s gas tank, but that he never witnessed any problems himself.

“He had always been very civil when I saw him,” he said.

Johnson said the deaths of Kristina and Amber Gibson were tragic. He said Kristina “was a marvelous and vivacious person.”