A six-day-old baby girl and 2-year-old boy were tragically gunned down alongside a man and woman in a horrific murder-suicide at a North Hills home, authorities said.
The newborn and toddler were identified as Ella and Alec Basmajian, while the adults male victim was identified as Khajag Basmajian, 31, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. The fourth victim, a woman in her 30s, had not yet been identified pending family notification.
The motive and identity of who pulled the trigger remain unclear.
The bloodshed unfolded just before 8 p.m. Wednesday inside a residence on the 16000 block of Londelius Street, the LAPD said.
Emergency crews responded around 7:50 p.m. after callers reported multiple people shot inside the home. When officers and paramedics arrived, they found all four victims dead at the scene.
At the outset of the investigation, authorities identified the victims only as an adult man and woman thought to be in their mid-to-late 30s, along with two young children.
Officials initially estimated one child to be between 5 and 7 years old and the other to be a 4-month-old infant, but the medical examiner later revised their ages.
Neighbors said the family who lived at the home largely kept to themselves, leaving many on the quiet residential block stunned by the violence.
“Most of the time they’re probably inside their house or they mind their own business,” neighbor Boni Dizon, 63, told The California Post.
Dizon said he heard several gunshots ring out Wednesday night but did not initially realize the severity of what happened.
“I heard like a gunshot, like about four shots or five shots, but it was not really loud because it’s inside,” he said. “You don’t even realize what’s going on, and we don’t expect that to happen.”
Another resident, Undreal Turner, described the killings as “devastating.”
“It’s just shocking to be in our neighborhood, something that drastic and devastating in the neighborhood. It’s sad,” Turner told ABC 7.
“Four people lost their lives today. We really need to hone in on our moms, and even dads, just to make sure, in the neighborhood, people that you know, that they’re OK. Do they need any help? Do they need any assistance? Do they need any support?”
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