Man Fatally Shoots Girlfriend, Self : Violence: The killings occur in the house he shared with his parents and the woman. Police say he was despondent over her recent miscarriage.

A 28-year-old Reseda man fatally shot his girlfriend and then shot and killed himself in the back bedroom of their house Thursday, apparently because he was despondent about her recent miscarriage, police said.

Los Angeles Police SWAT team members found Michael Silva dead of a bullet wound in the right temple when they entered the modest two-bedroom duplex in the 6800 block of Baird Avenue, where Silva lived with his parents and girlfriend.

The girlfriend, identified by police as Irene Rivera, 28, died from a gunshot wound to the chest, police Sgt. George Rock said.

Silva’s mother and stepfather, Gloria and Ramon Espinosa, were in the house at the time of the shooting but were not harmed, police said.

“Silva was extremely upset about the fact that she had miscarried and felt it was due to her neglect,” Detective Alan Siemens said. “Another factor was that he was a drug addict, although we don’t know yet if he was high at the time.”

The incident started about 1:40 p.m. after Silva and Rivera began arguing about her recent miscarriage, Gloria Espinosa told detectives. Rock said Silva’s parents attempted to pacify their son after Silva told them that he was going to kill his girlfriend.

“He was venting to his mother and father and they were trying to calm him down,” Rock said.

But Silva took a 9-millimeter pistol to the back bedroom where Rivera was and locked the door behind him, Rock said. Moments later, Gloria Espinosa told police, she heard two shots.

Espinosa fled the house and called police at a neighbor’s residence, Rock said.

While several blocks of the residential neighborhood were sealed off, and paramedics waited and a police helicopter circled overhead, a heavily armed SWAT unit entered the house about 4:45 p.m. and found the two bodies.

Silva was found holding the handgun, LAPD Officer Don Cox said.

Afterward, a group of about 100 neighbors gathered outside the house, where a children’s pink wading pool sat in the front yard.

“I heard a woman scream but no shots,” said Moses Cano, who lives three houses down the street. Cano said he did not know either victim.

Rock said Rivera had lived at the house sporadically, and was living there the past week.

Gloria Espinosa told police that Silva was free on bail after a drug-related arrest two weeks ago in Santa Clarita, but Santa Clarita sheriff’s deputies said they had no record of having arrested Silva.