SAN FERNANDO VALLEY : No Drugs Found in Body of Youth After Fatal Rampage

Troubled teen-ager Christopher Golly was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol when he shot his father to death and then ambushed Los Angeles police with a military-style rifle, killing rookie Officer Christy Lynne Hamilton, the county’s top medical examiner said Thursday.

Golly killed his father, called police to his Northridge home by calling 911 to report the slaying, and then opened fire on them before ultimately killing himself early Feb. 22. After Golly’s suicide, there was widespread speculation among friends and classmates that the youth’s rampage was the result of his use of methamphetamine, a drug that can cause users to become violent and temperamental.

But Los Angeles County’s chief medical examiner-coroner, Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran, said blood tests indicated that the 17-year-old had no alcohol or drugs of any kind in his system--not even residual levels--on the day of the shootings.