Seven Bodies Found in Wilmington Home; Five Children dead

The bodies were found in a two-story home on the 1000 block of McFarland Avenue shortly before 9 a.m. Tuesday. The case is being investigated as a murder-suicide, but police are exploring all possibilities. Police say they believe the father, Ervin Lupoe, was distraught over ongoing job problems and killed his wife Ana and their five children before shooting himself.

"They were in separate rooms, the dad and the girls in one room, and the wife and the boys in another room. When the officers came in, they smelled what they believed to be fresh gunshot residue in the air," said LAPD Deputy Chief Kenneth Garner.

Police said the apparent father was found dead with his three daughters, 5-year-old twin girls and an 8-year-old girl, in an upstairs bedroom. A revolver was found next to the man. Twin 2-year-old boys were found dead next to their mother in another bedroom.

The Assistant Chief of Investigations for L.A. County Coroner's Office, Ed Winter, confirmed the identities of the deceased Tuesday. They are Ervin Lupoe; wife Ana Lupoe; daughter Brittney Lupoe, 8, and twin daughters Jazmin and Jassely Lupoe, 5; and twin sons Benjamin and Christian, 2.

All of them died from gunshot wounds to the head, some with multiple wounds. The wife and children died some time overnight, after 4 p.m. Monday. The father died after contacting ABC7 Tuesday.

Police believe Ervin Lupoe shot his five children and his wife, and then called ABC7. He was calm as he explained what he had done, and wanted to fax a letter. ABC7 called police and told them what was happening. The man called police as well.

"There was a call to Communications at the same time, the watch commander at Harbor [Division] received a call from KABC Channel 7; so it was almost simultaneously we got those two calls, and within minutes, a unit was in front of the location and went inside, but unfortunately it was too late," said Deputy Chief Garner.

At the same time Eyewitness News notified police, they received a phone call from a man who stated, "'I just returned home and my whole family's been shot."

Deputy Chief Garner said police are unsure who the male caller was, but they suspect it was the father.

In his faxed letter, Lupoe sounds distressed. He said both he and his wife were fired from Kaiser Permanente, and he explained his side of the story. "My wife and I were being investigated for misrepresentation of our employment to an outside agency for the benefit to ourselves' [sic] childcare ... I was told by my administrator ... that 'You should not even had bothered to come to work today, you should have blown your brains out.' So after a horrendous ordeal, my wife felt it better to end our lives and why leave our children in someone's [sic] else's hands."

At the end, he leaves a handwritten message: "O my Lord, my God, is there no home for a widow's son?" Eyewitness News has learned that this is an oath by the Freemasons, a Grand Masonic hailing sign of distress. Any Mason hearing these words is obligated by oath to help.

Tuesday afternoon, Kaiser Permanente issued a statement:

"We are deeply saddened to hear of the tragic deaths of Ervin Lupoe and his wife and family. Our sympathies are with all of their extended family and friends at this time," wrote Mehera Christian, Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles. "Ervin Lupoe and his wife are former employees of Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center."

Deputy Chief Garner said that the incident is the LAPD's worst fear in these tough times that families will see no other way to deal with the problems that are piling on them.

The police department is working with grief counselors, who will be sent to the schools that the children attended.

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[lz2NaSTy4u]

Stuff similar to this is on the news almost every night. A new shooting and death of someone. Nothing surprises me anymore.

[trumpet5432]

your parents completely f--ked up when they raised you. it's ok to be black, it's not ok to be a mentally f--ked up a--hole like you!

[quancito]

to steelerscancer ur an idiot u really are thats why ur probaly unemployed and u will never get anything in life it's people like u that fucks up the world keep talkin shit u will be forwarded to you tube corporate you dumb ass

[phoenixjdyoung]

If I don't live in wilmington then STFU

[EASTLOS90022]

LOL

[BLACKFLANIGAN]

I'm pretty sure RACE played a role in them being FIRED. But this Man had a LACK OF BLACKNESS. He didn't understand that the Black Race is built to overcome extreme obstacles. Like all Races. But in the End, The Nigga just paniced. Remember Dumbasses: THERE IS A GOD, AND THAT IS WHO YOU WORK FOR!!!!

[uniblackgyrl]

If you all watch news, its not all things to believe. This is a homicide. Look at clues, they both got fired from Kasier, he so called typed and fax a letter before his death. It was a set up someone at Kasier killed them so they want be expose. This doesnt make sense......this needs to be reopen.

[BlAzEAtF777]

Wilmas

[MARVIA35]

@quancito -ur absolutely right. you tube needs to start banning these callous racist comments or setting up something like the spam and share options, only this one could be immediately sent to them and addressed. i know that will probably be an enormous job to undertake, even so i think its worth it.

[MARVIA35]

OH LORD, THOSE BEAUTIFUL BABIES!! @SexyEski- even here in the U.S. after going thru worse people get that survival attitude and push on. i know i did. had to. IVE BEEN THRU AND LOSS SO MUCH MORE THAN HE DID!! (not killing those babies, but in life) MY WORD, if he'd gone thru HALF as much.........smh. don't own a patent on life kicking you in the ass and dont claim to, i just know what ive gone thru. my heart goes out to them though. i just wish he could've found another alternative, but ur rite

[AC1717171717]

Why did no brothers respond Whether dues were paid or not!!!!!

[MegaLindy123]

i knew the kids they were nice

[SexyEski]

@TheMrkiller2010 I thought the same hting, why kid your family, why take your children lives becos of money problems. Many people in less developed countries goes through worst than lossing their job and they seem to have a sort of survival attitude when things happened to them. They are obviously distress but they just get on with it.