SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. – A man who police say shot and killed his three daughters and their chaperone Monday at a church in Sacramento County, California, was out on bail at the time of the shooting, according to information released Tuesday.
David Mora, 39, was arrested last week on several charges, including assaulting a police officer. Mora was under a domestic violence restraining order and not supposed to have a gun under California law.
Mora fatally shot his daughters, aged 9, 10 and 13 Monday evening, officials said. Authorities said he also killed 59-year-old Nathaniel Kong, who was the chaperone for the visitation.
The shooting was a "domestic violence incident," according to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office.
Business records show Kong had been an executive in the church. He also served Mora with a restraining order in May 2021, which stipulated the father only have supervised visits with his daughters for up to four hours per week with a mutually agreed-upon chaperone. Mora also was required to take anger management courses.
Mora, who also was identified as David Fidel Mora Rojas in court papers, was taken into custody for a mental health evaluation last April 17. Mora's estranged girlfriend and mother of the three girls filed the domestic violence restraining order against him in April 2021, court documents show.
The order says the mother was afraid for her life and that Mora had threatened to kill her if he caught her cheating.
Only days before shooting, Mora was arrested in Merced County, California on charges of resisting arrest, battery on a police officer, and driving under the influence after he allegedly assaulted a California Highway Patrol officer.
Mora had been living at the church, Sacramento County sheriff's Sgt. Rod Grassmann told KXTV-TV.
Yadira Ortega lit a candle Tuesday morning at the entrance of the church.
Ortega, 28, who has lived across the street from the Church in Sacramento for years, said she heard about 10 gunshots Monday evening when she arrived home. She went inside and told her two children to stay in their rooms.
The candle she lit Tuesday was for the victims, as well as her own children, she said.
"As soon as I heard it was children, it hurt me even more," she told the USA TODAY Network.
Ortega and a handful of neighbors gathered Tuesday to mourn the victims, leaving flowers and stuffed bunnies outside the church in the Arden-Arcade neighborhood, east of downtown Sacramento. Some considered organizing a vigil for the victims Tuesday night.
'SENSELESS ACT OF GUN VIOLENCE':5 dead in Sacramento church shooting after man kills his children, then takes own life
Ortega's husband, Pedro Chavez, said Tuesday that the church held services on Zoom and few people came and went. He said there's been crime in the neighborhood but nothing like this.
“I feel for the mother and what she may be going through,” said Chavez, 29. “We’re here to help (her) however we can. It’s just sad.”
The three children killed were students at two schools in the Natomas Unified School District, spokesperson Deidra Powell said in a statement to USA TODAY. Powell said there will be grief counseling and support available for anyone in the district at the victims' schools.
"There are very few words that can give comfort right now for this unspeakable tragedy," Powell said. "For today and the next few days, let’s focus on taking care of each other."
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg also called the shooting “an unspeakable tragedy" on Twitter. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the shooting was "absolutely devastating."
"Another senseless act of gun violence in America - this time in our backyard. In a church with kids inside," Newsom said on Twitter. "Our hearts go out to the victims, their families and their communities."
Contributing: The Associated Press
Contact Breaking News Reporter N'dea Yancey-Bragg at nyanceybra@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @NdeaYanceyBragg
