Shooting of 3 Triggered by Love Triangle : Investigation: Police say La Palma man shot two women and then killed himself when they confronted him together about his relationship with each. One woman is on life support.

A tragic love triangle sparked the weekend murder-suicide that left two people dead and another clinging to life with a gunshot wound to the head, police said Monday.

La Palma Police Sgt. Sven Hansen said that Nelson Nonato, 49, shot two women Sunday inside his apartment in the 5300 block of Orangethorpe Avenue when they came to confront him about his relationships with them.

“Apparently, he had been dating both of them at the same time,” Hansen said. “Somehow the women found out and got together and confronted him.”

Although investigating officers at first thought the incident could have been a murder-suicide or a homicide, Hansen said police have concluded it was a “love triangle” that provoked the murder-suicide.

Nonato, a convenience store clerk, was married but separated from his wife at the time of the shootings, according to police, who declined to give any more information about the estranged wife.

Nonato had been dating Sara Guevara, 31, of South Gate, and the couple had a 2-year-old daughter together, Hansen said.

While he was dating Guevara, Nonato was also seeing Araceli Maria de La Rocha, 41, of Cerritos, Hansen said. Police are not sure how the women learned they were involved with the same man.

When Guevara and de La Rocha arrived at his apartment on Sunday, Nonato shot each in the head before turning the gun on himself, police said. Guevara and Nonato died at the scene and de La Rocha was taken to UCI Medical Center, where she was on life support equipment Monday and not expected to survive.

Autopsies performed on Guevara and Nonato on Monday showed that the deaths were a murder-suicide, Hansen said. Detectives recovered a 9-millimeter handgun that belonged to Nonato and had been fired six times at the scene, he said.

There was no sign of a struggle in the apartment, Hansen added.

Relatives of Guevara said she had not seen Nonato in about a month, since she discovered he had another girlfriend.

Police said that a caller who lives on a nearby street reported hearing gunshots at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday, but officers who responded could not determine where the shots were fired.

Pat and Marvin Christenson, who live below Nonato’s apartment, told reporters they heard six popping sounds but did not report them to police.

On Sunday afternoon, a woman described as Nonato’s sister-in-law came to the apartment. When she got no response from Nonato, the woman used a neighbor’s phone to summon Nonato’s 15-year-old daughter.

When the teen-ager arrived, she opened the door and began screaming. The young girl called police at 1:15 p.m. and reported finding the three victims inside, police said.