A Father’s Deadly Despair

Two Orange County school board officials held hostage by a Lakewood father angry over his deaf son’s education said Tuesday that the gunman never intended to harm them and seemed intent on dying in a gun battle with police.

One hostage quoted Michael P. Generakos as saying Monday: “I came here today to get myself killed because I don’t have the guts to kill myself.”

As police and the hostages disclosed new details Tuesday about the nearly three hours they were held in the superintendent’s office in Costa Mesa, there were other developments:

* Court documents show that a judge granted custody of Generakos’ children to his ex-wife in part because the Orange County Board of Education sided with her over an education plan that would put their 16-year-old son in a Braille class. Generakos had bitterly opposed the move.

* Authorities recovered four more fake pipe bombs that Generakos hid in bushes outside the education building. The dummy bombs were fashioned out of black PVC pipe and filled with clay to simulate plastic explosives. Discovery of the bombs prompted school officials to send workers home Tuesday.

* At University High in Irvine, where Generakos’ deaf son is a junior, counselors fluent in sign language met to comfort students.

The two school administrators whom Generakos held captive agreed Tuesday that the gunman was veering toward self-destruction, and at a news conference described being held at gunpoint in a small, second-story administrative office.

“The reality of it is, I think this came out the way he planned,” said Associate Supt. John Nelson, who was the last person to speak with the slain gunman. “He told us, ‘I lost my children, I have nothing left.’ ”

Nelson was startled when Generakos burst into a meeting he was conducting with Deputy Supt. Lynn Hartline in her office. Generakos had walked calmly through the building, carrying a package and a handgun concealed under his sport coat. He slipped around the front receptionist and upstairs to find Supt. John F. Dean, who was not in his office. He found Nelson in Hartline’s office.

Generakos flashed his gun and held up what appeared to be a bomb, Hartline said, then wheeled around to face the two secretaries stationed outside in the lobby.

“He said, ‘You better call somebody. I’m serious,’ ” Hartline told reporters at a news conference Tuesday. “We could see that he had a gun. He racked it.”

Hartline, a 26-year district employee, described Generakos as “tightly wound.” Along with the gun, he showed his two hostages a crude-looking detonator. Both suspected the device was a fake but also had their doubts, having witnessed his many angry outbursts at school board meetings.

Generakos Bitter Over Custody Loss

An hour passed before police hostage negotiators telephoned the office. During that time, and throughout the standoff, Generakos rambled about what he perceived was the inadequate education the school district was providing for his deaf son, Nelson said.

But his sporadic venting always returned to the recent custody loss of the boy and his 12-year-old sister.

Generakos’ vehement stand on the subject of his son’s education apparently played a role in his losing custody of his children, according to court papers filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

On Sept. 28, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge awarded temporary custody of the children to their mother, taking into consideration Generakos’ refusal to go along with the educational plan district officials and his ex-wife had devised for his son. Generakos bitterly complained about the role the Board of Education played in the custody reversal, writing board President Elizabeth Parker to say she shouldn’t get involved.

“He would go back to the issue,” Nelson recounted. “We tried to convince him he’s still their father, he could still be with them even though he didn’t have custody. It just didn’t work.”

When the police were called in, Generakos put them on the speaker phone and ordered Nelson and Hartline not to speak. Generakos demanded to talk to the media. The police asked him to release his hostages, and come out unarmed. The frustrated gunman often hung up during the negotiations.

Throughout the ordeal, Generakos told Nelson and Hartline he was prepared to shoot them if provoked but offered assurances he would not.

“He pleaded with us not to force him to do something,” Nelson said.

After about two hours, the hostages talked Generakos into freeing Hartline, who convinced him she was sick and that he only needed a single hostage.

Following further negotiation on the telephone with the police, Generakos grew weary. He decided to go outside, armed and with Nelson, to confront police, Nelson said.

“I think he realized he was softening and, therefore, he ended it,” Nelson said. “He said, ‘No more talking. John, it’s time to go downstairs.’ ”

Police had already decided to use deadly force if Generakos walked out with a weapon or hostage and refused to surrender, Costa Mesa Police Lt. Ron Smith said.

Instead of remaining calm, Generakos kept “pushing and pushing it,” Smith added.

“In talking to him, we told him, ‘Why don’t you let [Nelson] come out?’ . . . But [Generakos] was the one who said, ‘I’m coming out.’ He kept accelerating everything,” Smith said.

Hostage Says Gunman Gave Sniper Clear Shot

Three hours into the ordeal, Generakos grabbed Nelson’s belt buckle and steered him out of the building. Nelson walked out the front door and into the parking lot, moving slowly and deliberately forward, with the handgun held to his back while police snipers watched nearby.

Generakos explained to Nelson how the two of them were going to position themselves once outside the building, Smith said. Generakos also told Nelson that he expected to be shot and warned him to run away when the shooting begin.

“He described [to Nelson] how he was going to position him in front and told him, ‘At some point the police will have to shoot me and you will have to run away,’ ” Smith said.

Several officers yelled at Generakos to drop the weapon and put his arms over his head. Nelson responded to the command, but Generakos continued to hold the weapon at Nelson’s back.

Smith said the SWAT team was authorized to shoot Generakos if “he continues to move or attempts to get in a car . . . when they felt they could no longer control him, to shoot him.”

A sniper on the rooftop of a nearby building fired one fatal shot from a Remington .308-caliber hunting rifle, striking Generakos on the left side of the head.

Nelson said Generakos “pushed me a little bit” just before he was gunned down and Nelson sprinted away. Nelson said he’s convinced Generakos wanted to give the police snipers a clear shot.

Still, the deafening crack of the rifle shot left Nelson confused--and terrified.

“When the shot rang out, it was so loud . . . I thought maybe it was his gun going off,” Nelson said. “I didn’t realize he had been taken out at that point, until I got away.”

Police investigators are convinced that Generakos came to the building to draw attention to his son’s plight and expected to die.

“It looks like he made up his mind to take his life . . . and he thought this was the best way to do it,” Smith said. “ . . . It was apparent that he had an agenda and was planning this. He was going to go out and get shot by the cops.”

Times staff writers Megan Garvey and Liz Seymour contributed to this report.

* COMBATIVE RELATIONS: Families, schools often clash over special education. A14

* SIMILAR SHOOTINGS: ‘Suicide by cop’ up sharply in ‘97, a study finds. A15