Suspected Gunman Called ‘Psycho’ by Some Neighbors : Koreatown: Man, 58, allegedly killed his wife and three of her relatives before turning the gun on himself.

A middle-aged man believed to have killed his wife and three of her relatives before turning the gun on himself was known in his Koreatown neighborhood as a volatile drinker who kept to himself and was sardonically nicknamed “Psycho,” one resident said Saturday.

Detectives said they believed a domestic dispute led 58-year-old Moo Bon Paik to an explosion of violence.

Paik and the four others were found dead Friday night inside the couple’s ground-floor apartment on Harvard Boulevard, officials said.

Details remained sketchy Saturday. Investigators said Paik opened fire as the group gathered in his living room about 8:30 p.m. The county coroner identified the man’s wife as Young Hee Paik, 50, and the relatives as Sang Keun Lee, 44; Mi Soon Lee, 33, and James Keun Lee, 47. Authorities did not know how the wife was related to the Lees.

“It’s pretty tragic, really,” said Los Angeles police spokesman Jason Lee. “It’s just a case of domestic violence turned deadly. We’ve got too many of these.”

Most neighbors said that the area is peaceful but that different ethnic groups do not mix because of language barriers, so many residents did not know Paik. His immediate neighbors, who speak Korean, refused to be interviewed except to say, “We didn’t know him very well.” Others said they often heard the couple fight.

Paik and his wife had argued earlier in the week, and she moved out of the modest stucco apartment building just off Olympic Boulevard, officials and neighbors said.

The couple seemed to fight more loudly when Paik was drinking, neighbors said.

A 16-year-old boy who lives in the apartment building and was the closest witness to the shooting said Paik did not socialize with neighbors and was referred to as “Psycho” by some residents.

On Friday night, Paik was heard arguing with a man inside his apartment when his wife arrived, apparently to pick up her belongings. The boy, who asked not to be identified, was sitting outside on a makeshift bench residents use to chat and get air in the summer heat.

A few minutes later, another couple drove up and walked down the driveway into the apartment, the boy said.

Suddenly, shooting erupted. The boy ran, and another neighbor was almost hit by a stray bullet. The boy said he could hear women screaming inside the apartment as the gunfire continued.

“I ran to the back,” he said. “I wasn’t going to stay and see what was happening.”

Neighbor Lee Patee, 70, was eating dinner and watching television next door when he heard three rapid volleys of gunfire. “I ran to the window and thought gang members were shooting,” he said. “I heard six shots real fast, then I counted seven more real fast, then two, then one. I guess that must have been when he killed himself.”

Police were arriving when the final shot was heard, officials said. They recovered a revolver and a semiautomatic handgun. No one else was inside the apartment.

Detectives worked throughout the night and removed the bodies Saturday morning. Dried blood was caked on the steps of the apartment and on a vinyl chair outside.

Paik had lived in the apartment with his previous wife, with whom he had two daughters. Some neighbors said he used to make his daughters line up outside, military style, and march into the apartment.

Then, about three years ago, his first wife left him, neighbors said, and he remarried. His new wife had a 16-year-old daughter, who also moved into the apartment. The couple did not have children together.

Young Hee Paik took her daughter with her when she left last week, and the girl was not present during the attack.

Moo Bon Paik was a member of St. Gregory’s Catholic Church. A priest who knew him refused to comment on the family.