March 10 (UPI) -- A hostage situation at a California veterans home ended in the deaths of three people and the gunman, a military veteran, authorities said.
The gunman entered the Veterans Home of California, Yountville, during a staff party Friday morning, and took five hostages with a high-powered rifle and at least two other guns, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. He exchanged gunfire -- at least 20 shots, witnesses said -- with a Napa County Sheriff's Deputy and barricaded himself with hostages inside a room.
At some point during the incident, the gunman, who had recently been kicked out of a program at the home for veterans with emotional trauma, released two of the hostages. Law enforcement officials tried to reach the gunmen on his cell phone throughout the day, but it was later found in a rental car parked at the home, the Press Democrat reported.
Shortly before 6 p.m., law enforcement found the bodies of the gunman and the three hostages.
The Napa County Sheriff's Office said the victims included Christine Loeber, the program's executive director, Dr. Jen Golich, a program therapist, and Dr. Jennifer Gonzales, a psychologist with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The gunmen was Albert Wong, 36, of Sacramento, the sheriff's office said. Authorities have not divulged any motive for the attack, the Napa Valley Register reported.
