Man who Killed Wife, Shot Self in Head Dies at Hospital

BALDWIN PARK, CA - A 47-year-old man accused of killing his estranged wife and then turning the gun on himself at a Baldwin Park market where she worked died Friday from his self-inflicted wound, according to the coroner's office.

Officers responded at 8:14 a.m. Wednesday to a call of "shots fired" at La Blanquita at 13810 Los Angeles St., said Baldwin Park police Lt. Chris Kuberry.

They found 44-year-old Leticia De La Torre Castillo dead near the checkout counter and her husband, Raul Garcia, suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, sheriff's Deputy Trina Schrader said. There were other people in the store, but no one else was injured, Kuberry said.

Garcia died at a hospital, according to Assistant Coroner Ed Winter.

A gun was recovered at the scene, police said.

La Blanquita customers told reporters De La Torre Castillo was a cook at the store but was acting as a cashier at the time of the shooting.

Mourners who gathered outside the store said the El Monte couple was married for 20 years and had four children together but had recently become estranged.

Sheriff's homicide Lt. Joe Mendoza told reporters Garcia had filed for a restraining order against his wife, but De La Torre Castillo had not yet been served. He did not have details on why Garcia sought the restraining order. A motive for the shooting was also unknown.

The murder-suicide was being investigated by the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau in collaboration with Baldwin Park police.

--City News Service, photo via Shutterstock