Gunman Opens Fire, Wounds 5 at Day Camp

In a bloody rampage that turned a children’s summer camp into a scene of horror, a gunman shot an adult, a teenager and three children at a Jewish community center in Granada Hills on Tuesday. Police said the suspect was at large, armed and dangerous.

By 9 p.m. Los Angeles police had encircled the 7-Star Suites Motel in Chatsworth, where the suspect, who reportedly had hijacked a car, was thought to be hiding. Officers said the suspect had taken the car after abandoning a van filled with firearms and ammunition. Police found a book in the van written by a former member of the American Nazi Party, the Simon Wiesenthal Center said.

Los Angeles police identified the suspect as Buford O. Furrow, 37, who authorities said was on probation after a conviction for second-degree assault. Former neighbors said Furrow has a history of mental problems.

The van, which was recovered by police, was traced to Furrow, a onetime resident of Lynnwood, Wash. Neighbors said law enforcement officers visited the address Tuesday night.

Officers evacuated guests from the Chatsworth motel Tuesday evening as SWAT team members took up positions on surrounding roofs. Canine units swarmed the area as federal investigators moved in, turning a busy intersection into an armed camp.

But at 11 p.m., police said they had not been able to find the suspect.

Investigators said the gunman had walked into the community center lobby at 10:49 a.m. Tuesday and calmly fired 20 to 30 rounds from a 9-millimeter assault rifle.

A receptionist, Isabelle Shalometh, 68, was taking a phone call at the front counter when the gunman began shooting, according to Shalometh’s son-in-law, Paul Goldin.

“When he fired the gun, she ducked under the counter,” Goldin said. “She yelled for people in the main office to get down.”

As she ducked, Shalometh was grazed by bullets on the back and arm, Goldin said.

The gunman went down a short hallway, shooting methodically, according to authorities. He fled into the area behind the community center.

The most seriously injured was a 5-year-old boy who was shot twice, with one bullet piercing his abdomen and another striking his left thigh.

After six hours of surgery, the boy was listed in serious but stable condition at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Granada Hills.

Shalometh, a 16-year-old female camp counselor and two 6-year-olds were also hit by gunfire. The receptionist was released from the hospital late Tuesday and declined to comment. The other victims were in stable condition at local hospitals.

Victor Reolas, a maintenance worker, stood near the scene with bloodstained hands as he recounted how he was in Room 3 at the center when he heard the shots.

“At first I thought something had blown up in the kitchen,” he said. “Then I realized it was shooting.”

Reolas said he ran into another room and found several children lying on the floor. One girl was too terrified to walk and he helped her get up.

“There was a boy who couldn’t walk either. He got shot,” Reolas recalled. He said he lifted the boy and carried him from the building.

After he went back, Reolas saw the gunman from a distance, carrying a large gun.

As the gunshots were fired, at least one group of children fled into a nearby convalescent hospital. David Hibarger, the administrator at Rinaldi Convalescent Hospital, said four teenage counselors and 14 young children ran into the hospital.

“They were hysterical and screaming,” Hibarger said. “They said [the gunman] just came in shooting.”

Panicked Parents Flock to Center

A counselor, whose first name was Lisette, stood in front of the school sobbing after the shooting. There was blood on her leg and tennis shoes. The woman was teaching an art class when one of her friends, another counselor, ran into the room, bleeding from a gunshot wound.

“This is my friend’s blood,” she said pointing to her shoes.

Parents who descended on the school were held back as a group of preschoolers were escorted across the street by police officers. The children were holding hands in a long chain.

The husband of the injured receptionist, Hy Shalometh, said he had spoken with his wife. “Who knows why this happened?,” he said. “When people hear about all this, they might say it was terrorism, they might say it was religion. I couldn’t imagine why someone would do this.”

“Everything is screwed up in the world,” Shalometh said.

The carjacking occurred within about 15 minutes of the shooting, when a man fitting the description of the gunman waved a handgun at a woman driving a green Toyota Corolla in a North Hills parking lot.

That car was found parked late Tuesday at the hotel, its lights on. The woman was not injured in the carjacking.

In the early evening, LAPD officials said their investigation was nationwide.

Although authorities stressed that there was no known motive, Jewish organizations in Los Angeles immediately took extra precautions, with some officials expressing fear that the crime may have been motivated by anti-Semitism. Jewish schools and synagogues hired additional security guards. But police said it was too early to specify a motive.

The victims were identified by friends, family and neighbors as follows:

* Mindy Finkelstein, 16, a Chatsworth High School student who was recently confirmed at her temple, according to Rabbi Jerry Brown, head rabbi at Temple Ahavat Shalom in Northridge.

* Shalometh, a receptionist at the center for 13 years, described as a loving and generous grandmother by friends and family.

* Joshua Stepakoff, the son of Alan Stepakoff and Loren Leib of Porter Ranch, a “good little guy” who attends preschool at Temple Ahavat Shalom in Northridge, according to Brown.

* The critically injured 5-year-old, and an unidentified 6-year-old.

Authorities and eyewitnesses gave the following account:

The gunman, described as a white and bald, about 40 and wearing green or gray clothing, walked into the lobby of the North Valley Jewish Community Center in the 16600 block of Rinaldi Street around 10:45 a.m.

About 11:05 a.m., a woman driving a green Toyota was carjacked as she pulled into the restaurant where she worked in North Hills. The woman, who was shaken but unhurt, told police she was approached by a heavyset white man with a handgun after she drove into the parking lot.

The unidentified woman ran into the restaurant, where she watched as the man transferred items from a nearby red and silver van to her car and drive away, Buck said.

Police later sealed off the area, fearing the van might be booby-trapped. Inside, they found an arsenal: grenades and an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 rounds of ammunition, including 9-millimeter bullets similar to the shells found at the community center, Buck said.

Police also found survivalist gear, including a U.S. Army Ranger handbook, a camouflage flak vest, socks in plastic bags and medication.

Police responded to a scene of chaos within minutes of the 10:49 a.m. report of the shooting.

Officials Condemn Gun Violence

The now-familiar image of children fleeing a bullet-riddled school under guard of shotgun-wielding police attracted worldwide attention and reignited calls for gun control. One parent of a child in the center heard about the news when relatives in Israel called her after seeing a CNN broadcast.

President Clinton joined a host of state and city leaders, including Gov. Gray Davis and Mayor Richard Riordan, deploring the attack.

“Once again our nation has been shaken by an act of violence,” Clinton said. “This is another senseless act of gun violence.”

In Sacramento, Davis condemned the shooting as “yet another example of a senseless, barbaric act of violence against innocent children and defenseless adults.”

While some Jewish leaders urged caution, other interpreted the attack as anti-Semitic.

“Whoever is coming in with an automatic weapon and firing on children, clearly decided that the Jewish Community Center was a target and is performing a ghastly hate crime,” said Rabbi Harvey Fields of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, one of the largest temples in Los Angeles.

Top police officials cautioned that it was too early to determine the gunman’s motives, a concern echoed by other Jewish leaders. A special FBI civil rights squad was called in to investigate whether the act was a hate crime.

“We’re not going to speculate or make any determinations not based on evidence,” Police Chief Bernard Parks told a press conference.

Parents and neighbors crowded around the center, fearing that Granada Hills would join cities like Littleton, Colo., Jonesboro, Ark., and Dunblane, Scotland, as blood-stained symbols of hatred and school violence.

“For something like this to happen, oh my God. I am so scared. My heart is thumping,” said Vicky Tobo, who lives a few doors away from the community center.

Gidon Eliav, a Northridge resident, arrived at school worried but left relieved. His daughter, Reanna, 4, was not injured.

“What happened in Scotland could happen here,” Eliav said. “It could happen anywhere.”

Many Children Were on Field Trip

The carnage could have been far worse. Some of the 300 children normally at the community center were on a field trip to the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.

Parents, students and teachers told tales of terror.

Elaine Wynstock, program director at the center, said she and the principal of the preschool were returning from a visit to nearby stores, where they picked up day-old bread to give to the homeless.

As they approached, they saw a maintenance man lying on the lawn shielding a wounded female who is a counselor at the school.

“She was bleeding pretty bad. He was shielding her. He said ‘don’t go in, just drop down,’ ” Wynstock said. “The police came and they told us to run away.”

There was confusion was authorities searched for the gunman and tried to reunite parents and children.

“I just need my son,” said Katey Pianko. “I won’t be happy until I see him.”

Her daughter Zoe squirmed in her arms.

“Why are all these people here?” Zoe asked her mother, looking at all the fire trucks and police cars.

“Because they’re trying to catch a bad guy,” Pianko said.

“Is he a monster?” the little girl asked.

“Yes,” Pianko said, clutching her daughter tightly. “He’s a monster.”

Federal law enforcement investigators were seeking search warrants on Furrow’s home.

They said the van was purchased in Tacoma, Wa., this past Saturday. A car dealer told the Tacoma News-Tribune the man who bought it generally fit the description of the suspect. The dealer said he paid $4,000 in cash for the vehicle.

For about a year, from 1997 to 1998, the suspect lived in a mobile home park of mostly single-wide trailers and travel trailers in suburban Lynwood, Wash., which is a middle-class suburb about 40 miles north of Seattle

The landlord of the park, Helga Helverson, said she always knew him as Neal.

Helverson said Furrow “never said anything about Jews or anybody else. He always by himself and had no friends in trailer park.”

She said his father, Buford, told her that his son had an incurable disease and was going to have to be hospitalized. As a result, the father helped his son move out.

She said two FBI agents were at the park at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday and interviewed her.

“There was one time he came to pay his rent and he said: ‘I’ll be gone for a week to a church camp.’ And he named the church and I’d never heard of it.”

The Tacoma News-Tribune said that before pleading guilty in April to charges of second-degree assault, Furrow filed notice that he intended to use an insanity defense. He later withdrew the notice.

*

Contributing to this story were Times staff writers Patricia Ward Biederman, David Colker, Miles Corwin, Irene Garcia, Julie Ha, Karima A. Haynes, Annette Kondo, Evelyn Larrubia, Matt Lait, Caitlin Liu, Eric Malnic, Roberto J. Manzano, Art Marroquin, Josh Meyer, Patrick McGreevy, Solomon Moore, Kim Murphy, Karen Robinson-Jacobs, Nicholas Riccardi, Kristina Sauerwein, Larry B. Stammer, Kurt Streeter, Margaret Talev, Julie Tamaki, Jenifer Warren and Martha L. Willman. San Fernando Valley photographers Carlos Chavez, Ringo H.W. Chiu, Robert Gauthier, Robbin Goddard, Tom Jagoe, Joel Lugavere, David Muronaka and Perry Riddle and correspondents Rob O’Neil and Diane Wedner also contributed.