The gunman who killed his three daughters, a chaperone who was supervising his visit with the children and himself at a Sacramento church this week was in the United States illegally, immigration officials said Friday.
Authorities say a man shot and killed his three children, one other person and then turned the gun on himself at a church in Sacramento on Monday, the sheriff's office confirmed. The three girls killed were all under the age of 15. The other unidentified person was a chaperone and we've learned the shooter had a restraining order against him and was estranged from his kids' mother.
The Merced County Sheriff's Office said because of California's so-called sanctuary state law it did not inform immigration officials last week that Mora-Rojas had been arrested for punching an officer. The mother of his three children, ages 9, 10, and 13, had obtained a restraining order against him after the previous domestic violence incident from April.
"This unspeakable tragedy highlights the true cost, unintended or not, of sanctuary policies that prevent law enforcement from protecting its citizens", said Sheriff Scott Jones. Grisel Ruiz, supervising attorney for the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, said gun control and domestic violence appear to be the central issues in the killings, while immigration status had no bearing.