Sisters Injured in Shooting Rampage Continue Their Recovery

Two teenage girls injured by their father when he went on a rampage killing his estranged wife and youngest daughter near Griffith Park improved slightly Saturday but remained in critical condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Christine Ghazelian, 16, who was shot in the mouth Thursday night, and her sister, Talar, 14, who suffered blunt trauma to her head, were conscious and speaking in the intensive care unit of County-USC Medical Center, according to a family friend who visited the girls.

The sisters now know they are orphans, as friends told them that their father, Gabriel Ghazelian, 49, also was dead. They already knew their mother, Zabel, 42, and 13-year-old sister, Garine, had been shot and killed by their father.

Ghazelian, disturbed over his separation from his wife, apparently leaped 50 feet to his death Friday morning in the Los Angeles River.

“We weren’t there, but we are assuming he jumped and committed suicide,” Los Angeles Police Det. Gilbert Garcia said. “Basically for us, this case is just about closed.”

A man who has known the Ghazelian family for years said the couple’s separation drove Gabriel Ghazelian to despair.

“He kept telling me, ‘I can’t go on living like this. I can’t live like this,’ ” said Joe Nishanian, who rented an apartment to the family. “I feel so bad that I couldn’t do anything to stop this tragedy.”

Ghazelian left Nishanian a note apologizing for “what is going to happen today.”

“I think his 9-millimeter [handgun] must have jammed because that is why he [hit] Talar and that is why he jumped,” Nishanian said. “He planned this out and I think the plan was for everybody to die right there. Him too.

“He really loved his kids, believe it or not, but he kept telling me, ‘My wife hates me and she taught my kids to hate me. I’m so depressed,’ ” Nishanian said. “He said, if he couldn’t live with his kids, he didn’t have a life.”

A hospital spokeswoman said Friday that Talar’s injuries may have been caused by a blow from the butt of a gun.

On Saturday, the principal of the school the girls attended announced the school has set up a college fund for the sisters.

“The school is trying to take care of their education,” said Principal Viken Yacoubian of Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School in Hollywood. “They are orphans now, so we will take care of them.”

The brother of Gabriel Ghazelian was flying in from Canada and has expressed an interest in taking the sisters back, friends said.

However, a family friend who is also a clinical psychologist said the girls do not want to live with their father’s relative.

The decision where the children will go will be made by the assigned social worker, but the opinion of the sisters will be taken into consideration, said the friend, Maral Babian, who visits the Armenian school twice a week.

“The kids do not want to be with their father’s family in Canada,” Babian said. “I know the girls very well, and I know they are strong and very, very good girls.”

Principal Yacoubian also said the girls have said they do not want to leave Los Angeles.

Most of their mother’s family lives in Beirut, where she grew up. She had no close relatives living in the Los Angeles area. A few of Zabel’s close friends have told Yacoubian they would like to care for the sisters.

Anyone wishing to contribute to the college fund can send a check to the Talar and Christine Ghazelian Education Fund, c/o Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School, 1615 N. Alexandria Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027.