Valley Shooting Suspect Surrenders, Confesses

A white supremacist turned himself in to federal authorities Wednesday and confessed to carrying out the bloody assault on a Jewish community center in Granada Hills and then killing a mail carrier in a hate-fueled rampage he described as a “wake-up call” to kill American Jews, police officials and sources said.

Buford Oneal Furrow, a 37-year-old mechanic from Washington state who told authorities last year that he fantasized about killing people, eluded a massive police manhunt Tuesday afternoon by hailing a taxicab in the San Fernando Valley and taking it to Las Vegas, where he checked into a hotel. Shortly before 9 a.m., Furrow walked unarmed into the FBI offices and surrendered--about 22 hours after the community center shooting.

“You’re looking for me,” a federal law enforcement source quoted Furrow as saying to FBI investigators. “I killed the kids in Los Angeles.”

Furrow apparently thought the explosive barrage of assault rifle gunfire he allegedly unleashed at the community center left some youngsters dead. An adult, a teenager and three young children were wounded during the shooting, none fatally. All of their conditions improved Wednesday, and one of the victims was released from the hospital.

U.S. postal worker Joseph Ileto, a 39-year-old Filipino American, did not survive his encounter with the gunman. He was fatally shot six times Tuesday afternoon after the assault on the community center while walking his mail route.

Although police said there were no witnesses to Ileto’s shooting, Furrow’s alleged statements and ballistic evidence tie him to that crime.

Late Wednesday, in a closed-door hearing in federal court, Furrow waived extradition. He was flown by helicopter to Los Angeles later in the evening. Authorities said he will be arraigned on charges of killing a federal employee and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Furrow could face the death penalty, they said. He also is expected to face additional charges, possibly in state court, in connection with the attack on the community center and a carjacking.

Police said Furrow has been very cooperative and agreed to be interviewed by investigators without an attorney.

“He’s a regular chatterbox,” said one law enforcement source.

Even before Furrow surrendered, a more complete portrait of him was emerging as a man with a violent criminal past who played an active role in training other white supremacists in hand-to-hand combat.

Furrow, an avowed racist who described himself to authorities in Washington as homicidal and suicidal, once lived with Debbie Mathews, the widow of Robert Mathews, founder of a violent neo-Nazi group, the Order. Last year, Furrow tried to commit himself to the Fairfax Psychiatric Hospital in Kirkland, a suburb of Seattle. There, he was arrested for pulling a knife on several staff members.

“Sometimes I feel like I could just lose it,” Furrow told police after his arrest at the hospital. He was convicted of second-degree felony assault and served 165 days in jail.

Furrow’s surrender brought a sense of relief and a relatively quick resolution to a horrific crime that captured national attention with televised images of young children being carried on gurneys and escorted from their day camp under police guard.

“Our community can rest assured that he will not bring any more harm to our children and other innocent Angelenos,” Mayor Richard Riordan said at a hastily convened news conference at police headquarters Wednesday morning. “Let us not let this incident cause us to lead our lives in terror. . . . We will get beyond this dark moment.”

In Washington, President Clinton, who is renewing calls for gun control legislation in the wake of the attack, said reports about Furrow’s racist and troubled background were “deeply disturbing.”

For many, the fear engendered by the shooting was hard to shake. Some nervous parents kept their children home from Jewish summer camps and day-care centers around the region Wednesday, and those who did drop off their sons and daughters expressed relief for the heightened security at many sites. Many parents said they were anxious about leaving their children, and tried to reassure themselves that Tuesday’s shooting spree was an isolated incident.

The North Valley Jewish Community Center, where the shooting occurred, held its camp and day-care program at a nearby temple, with about two-thirds of the children attending. A small group of parents showed up at the Granada Hills center early, saying the violence would not keep them away.

“I told my children that they have to be aware that there are people out there who have those kinds of [bigoted] feelings,” said Jonathan Dreyfuss as he escorted his daughter, Abby, 10, into a church adjacent to the community center. “It comes with the entire package of being a Jew in America.”

Still Questions to Be Answered

Despite relief that Furrow was in custody, police said many questions still remain. Perhaps the most bewildering one is why he allegedly chose to attack people in that particular facility.

“Did he know what he was targeting or did he just wander around?” Riordan mused before the news conference. Investigators speculate that one reason the center was attacked was because it was a so-called soft target, with relatively little security.

Jeff Rouss, executive vice president of the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Los Angeles, the parent organization of the Granada Hills center, said he was unaware of any connection between the alleged gunman and the center.

“I don’t have a clue,” he said. “The center is off the beaten path. I haven’t the foggiest notion of why us.”

According to police, Furrow bought a used van in Tacoma, Wash., on Saturday, loaded it up with boxes of ammunition, survivalist gear and white supremacist literature and headed for Los Angeles. Police said they were unaware of any connections Furrow has in Los Angeles, but they said his intent in the city was made clear by the firepower he brought with him.

“He certainly had the wherewithal to create a greater tragedy than the one we had,” Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks said.

Furrow, police alleged, walked calmly into the community center’s lobby at 10:49 a.m. Tuesday and opened fire with a semiautomatic weapon, unleashing about 70 shots in the building and striking five people: the center’s receptionist, 68-year-old Isabelle Shalometh; a 5-year-old boy; two 6-year-old boys; and a 16-year-old counselor at the center’s summer camp.

The 5-year-old, who was struck in the abdomen and leg, was in critical condition Wednesday after undergoing six hours of surgery and was given a fair chance of recovery. The counselor and one of the boys were in good condition Wednesday, and the other boy was in fair condition; Shalometh was released from the hospital Tuesday night.

A Trail of Terror

Police arrived at the center within four minutes of the shootings, but the gunman was already gone. As a massive LAPD manhunt was gearing up, police believe Furrow ditched his van and hijacked a Toyota from a 23-year-old sandwich shop employee, Jenny Younsun Choi, at gunpoint.

Police suspect Furrow killed the postal worker in nearby Chatsworth about an hour after the assault on the community center. They are not certain whether Ileto’s shooting was random or served another purpose. Ileto, a Chino Hills resident, had just delivered mail to a home and was returning to his truck when he was shot six times. There was no evidence of a theft.

“All of the postal employees, including the family of the victim, are relieved that a suspect has confessed to this shooting,” said Postal Inspector Pamela L. Prince.

“In talking to his co-workers, we found that this man was so well-loved,” Prince said. “He had no enemies. Only friends. It is such a tragedy.”

At the Chatsworth post office, where Ileto worked, employees reported to duty as usual, but the mood was grim.

“This is really very difficult for all of us,” said Ramona Franco, the postmaster for Chatsworth.

Wednesday evening, many of the families whose children attend the North Valley Jewish Community Center’s summer day camp gathered at a neighboring Episcopal church to share their experience and to question authorities.

About 300 people attended, and asked police and center officials about security precautions and what steps they were taking to prevent another shooting.

Rouss said that as a result of the meeting, a security committee had been formed and 15 to 20 parents had signed up.

Checking Out Acquaintances

Several hours after the rampage, the Toyota was found by patrol officers in the parking lot of the 7-Star Suites Hotel. SWAT officers spent hours methodically searching the hotel, unaware that Furrow already was in a cab headed for Las Vegas.

Early indications are that the gunman acted alone, Parks said, although investigators are looking into possible links to any groups or other individuals.

FBI spokesman Tron W. Brekke said agents also are looking at any possible associates of Furrow’s who may have aided the suspect. The possibility of a conspiracy “is always something you look at,” he said.

“There is no way one guy pulled this off,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.

Cooper and other leaders in the Jewish community said the reports about Furrow confirmed some of their deepest fears about the incident being a hate crime.

For anti-Semites, Cooper said, “if you make a statement and Jews are the ultimate enemy, the way you strike terror is kill kids.” He noted that some hate-mongers already are reveling in Tuesday’s events, saying that one computer Web site has posted derogatory messages supporting the gunman’s actions.

Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said Furrow’s comments upon surrendering proved that the attack was a hate crime.

But “the people who outlived Adolf Hitler,” Hier said, “will surely outlive Buford Furrow.”

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News updates, video and previous Times stories related to the Valley shooting are available online at: https://www.latimes.com/shooting

Contributing to the coverage of the Granada Hills shootings were Times staff writers Andrew Blankstein, David Colker, Miles Corwin, Ken Ellingwood, Irene Garcia, Tom Gorman, Julie Ha, Peter Hong, Meg James, Annette Kondo, Eric Malnic, Roberto J. Manzano, Art Marroquin, Terry McDermott, Coll Metcalfe, Josh Meyer, T. Christian Miller, Solomon Moore, Kim Murphy, Lisa Richardson, Nicolas Riccardi, Karen Robinson-Jacobs, Kristina Sauerwein, Margaret Talex, Rebecca Trounson, Eleanor Yang, Henry Weinstein and Daniel Yi. Times Correspondents Rob O’Neil, Richard Winton and Diane Wedner also contributed.