3 Found Dead in Pacoima Home

Three men were found shot to death Sunday morning in a house on a normally quiet residential street, authorities said.

The shooting occurred shortly before noon in the 13800 block of Eustace Street. The men, all in their 20s, were each shot multiple times and were declared dead at the scene, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey.

“Their injuries were profoundly traumatic. The nature of their injuries defied any resuscitative efforts,” he said.

Neighbors said they heard shots Sunday morning, but the 911 call came from within the house, Humphrey said. All three bodies were found inside the dwelling. There were no signs of a struggle and the inside of the house was not in disarray, said LAPD Officer Don Cox.

It was not known if there were one or more killers. The motive is also unknown, authorities said.

Police gave few details about the shooting itself, referring all questions to the department’s Robbery-Homicide Division downtown, which is handling the investigation. Lt. Joseph Garcia, commanding officer of the Foothill Division’s detective unit, said they were called in because Foothill detectives were investigating a homicide that occurred Friday night.

Garcia said the suspect or suspects were not in the house when authorities arrived and most likely came from outside to do the shooting. Police took several people who were believed to be family members and friends of the victims to the Foothill Division station to be interviewed, Garcia said.

“It does not appear to be domestic violence-related,” he added.

Police walked door to door interviewing residents in the neighborhood of one-story stucco houses, most of which are protected by security gates. Some of the gates’ outside walls bore graffiti.

Brian Engel, 33, who lives next door to the house where the shooting took place, said eight to 10 people lived there. They moved in about nine months ago, he said.

“They were very quiet people. I’m shocked that this happened,” Engel said.

Sometimes about a dozen men and women in their 20s would gather in the front yard, but they kept to themselves and didn’t bother neighbors, Engel said, and didn’t appear to be gang members.

“This is the quiet block of the whole bunch of blocks, but block to block it varies,” Engel said.

Anastacio Castro, a 23-year resident of the neighborhood, was in the backyard when he heard the shots. He said he ran out front but saw nothing.

“This area is really nice, but all the time new people move in and you don’t know how these people are going to be,” he said.

Police said the house was under construction. The backyard was littered with plywood planks, and panes of glass rested against the side of the house. A tricycle and several plastic chairs were in the backyard.

Sunday’s incident brings the homicide total to at least 33 this year in the Foothill Division, according to LAPD records, the highest in several years. In 1996 there were 18 killings and 28 occurred in 1995, according to police statistics.