Young Girl's Call to 911 in the Jose Avila Shooting

[deanmine]

Last Wednesday, Jose Avila, 24, shot the mother of his children, Laura Gonzalez, outside the family s trailer. Then, in front of several junior high school students, Avila killed his four children, ages 2, 3, 4 and 5, before committing suicide.

A young girl in the area who witnessed the incident was one of the first to call police. Police released her 911 call Tuesday morning.

Bay City Police Department. This is Maggie, the dispatcher answers.

We need a officer right now, there is this man shooting at this lady. We need a cop, the caller says.

Under all the pressure, the young caller does not waiver.

We have babies around here, there are babies in the car and he won t give them to the mom, the caller says.

Is she hurt? asks the dispatcher. She got shot?

Yes, she is bleeding everywhere. She can t stand up, she is fainting, says the young caller.

OK, We ll send EMS out there, says the dispatcher.

We are walking home from school. Me and my friends. He just started shooting her, the caller says.

More shots were then fired with the girl still on the phone.

He is shooting the kids! He is shooting the kids! the caller says.

He is shooting her again? the dispatcher asks.

Yes! No, No he killed the babies. The babies! He killed them!, the caller says. He killed himself too! Oh my God, the babies!

OK, stay on the line please, the dispatcher says.

The phone callthen ended.

Bay City police on Monday said Gonzalez was upgraded to serious condition and remains hospitalized.

[girliegirl]

[deanmine]

BAY CITY, Texas -- Laura Gonzalez was happy to be back at work after three weeks away that included a stay at a battered women's shelter. She saw it as the beginning of a new life. One without her husband and the father of her four children, she told co-workers. She wasn't going back to him this time, she said, and left for home.

Less than an hour later, her 24-year-old husband, Jose Avila, launched a brutal final assault. First he shot his wife three times. Then, he began shooting the children. Avila's final act was to kill himself.

Two of the children died at a hospital Thursday, a day after their two siblings were killed in the shooting that rattled the small southeast Texas town of Bay City. Their mother is hospitalized in critical condition.

As details trickled out, a picture emerged Thursday of a family long struggling with violence, including an assault reported by Gonzalez just before Thanksgiving. After that, she went to a battered women's shelter.

"I asked her how she was doing because I knew she was at the crisis center. She said she was trying to make something of her freedom and a better life for herself and her children," said Alejandro Gonzalez, a fellow waiter at La Casona, the Mexican restaurant where Gonzalez worked.

"She wanted to make a better life for his kids because they see all the violence," he added, recounting the conversation he had with Gonzalez hours before Avila turned on her.

Although Gonzalez left the trailer home she shared with her husband after reporting the assault, Bay City Lt. Andrew Lewis said she refused to press charges. He didn't know how long she stayed at the shelter.

Wednesday's violence unfolded on a quiet street in Bay City – a town about 65 miles southwest of Houston – just as two nearby schools were letting out. The couple started arguing inside the trailer, and Avila shot his wife twice, Lewis said. She ran out to the front yard, where Avila shot her a third time. Then, he turned on the children.

"We heard ... that he was walking around waving a gun," Lewis said, describing the violent scene that unfolded on a lawn now decorated with a makeshift memorial of teddy bears, candles and prayer books. At least one student witnessed the incident.

Two of the brothers, aged 3 and 5, died of their wounds at a Houston hospital Wednesday. Their 2-year-old sister and 4-year-old brother had been on life support but died Thursday. Gonzalez was in critical condition Thursday night at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Police have not officially released the names of the victims, but co-workers and neighbors identified Avila's wife as Laura Gonzalez.

The family had moved into the trailer home near Bay City's Western-style downtown about a year ago, neighbors said. They appeared to live a quiet life. On occasion, next-door neighbor Isuro Perez heard them arguing, but it appeared to be nothing out-of-the-ordinary. Just a run-of-the-mill dispute between a married couple.

"He always plays soccer out here in this field out here, plays soccer with his kids," Perez said, pointing to a grassy area opposite the row of trailer homes. "They were nice people, nothing went wrong really. They were a happy family."

At work, though, Gonzalez portrayed a different picture. Alejandro Gonzalez said he once saw her with a black eye. And Ruby Gomez, a waitress at La Casona, said Laura Gonzalez had told her about problems she had with her husband.

"She had to leave to get the kids in the afternoon because he threatened her that if she left him he was going to kill the four kids and her," Gomez said.

Once, Gomez said, Gonzalez told her Avila had locked her in the house and gone to work. She escaped through a window and went to a shelter, Gomez recounted. That was the second time she left him, and vowed not to go back.

The first time "he convinced her that he was going to change and that he really loved his kids, and convinced her to return to live with him," Gomez said.

Still, the tragic outcome of the relationship came as a shock to Gonzalez's co-workers and to other residents of Bay City – a town of just over 17,000 people surrounded by large ranches and farmland. The shooting was the talk of the town Thursday, as residents drove slowly past the couple's home.

Some stopped to add something to the growing memorial. Others cried. Several prayed.

"It's going to be sad for the momma when she wakes up and finds out she lost her children," said Gloria Carranza, a 41-year-old Bay City native who added pink and blue balloons to the memorial.

"Things like this don't happen in a small town like Bay City," she said.

[deanmine]

All four children allegedly shot by their father at their southeast Texas home Wednesday have died, say police.
CBS affiliate KHOU reports that two of the boys, ages 3 and 5, died Thursday morning, and the others, ages 2 and 4, died later the same day.

The boys' mother, identified as Laura Gonzales, sustained multiple gunshot wounds, and remains in critical condition. Lt. Andrew Lewis of the Bay City Police Department told KHOU that police were about to speak with the woman and she identified her husband as the shooter.

Authorities say that 24-year-old Jose Avila shot his family before turning the gun on himself around 3:15 p.m Wednesday. He was found dead at the scene.

Lt. Andrew Lewis of the Bay City Police Department said investigators were able to briefly speak with the mother and she identified the shooter as her husband.

Neighbor Juan Elizondo told KHOU Avila had recently lost his job cleaning floors at a grocery store.

"When he shot his wife, she came out running across the street. By that time, my daughter and my niece were walking to come home, and Laura stopped them and asked for a phone. And when they were trying to hand the phone over to Laura, he was swinging a gun at them," Elizondo said. "His (youngest) kid was in the truck, and then he shot his other three kids, and then he shot himself in the head."

Investigators say that there had been a domestic disturbance reported at the home on November 22. Police said Gonzales filed an assault report but decided not to press charges. Elizondo said the couple had split up recently and that Gonzales told him she was worried about getting the police involved because of the couple's immigration status.

The Bay City Wells Fargo bank has established a fund for the family.

[AliceInChains]

Fucking prick. That poor woman, I have no idea how you carry on after something like this.

I wish I believed there was a hell for him.

[deanmine]

Originally Posted by AliceInChains

Fucking prick. That poor woman, I have no idea how you carry on after something like this.

I wish I believed there was a hell for him.

[n2ecosystems]

What a selfish piece of shit, the fucking asshole should have just shot himself.

[Desensitisation]

There aren't enough words to describe just how fucking low that piece of shit is. Not nearly enough. And the only hell that exists will be for the poor mother who either has to live with losing all her kids to this cunt... or kill herself as well.

[RUTHIE7]

This just made me cry so hard. I've been single for 7 years, because of fear. What I went through wasn't as bad as this, but it still scares me. If someone lifts their arm near me, I cower. It's an awful PTSD. Reminds me of those times.

Never give up hope. I know how hard it can be, especially when you're 100% loyal, but when it comes down to it, self preservation isn't as important as saving your child. (Or children in this case)

When your child is hurt, it's time to run. Anything is better than that. You're worth it, you're children are worth it.

Get the help you need. I told my doctor. He knew. He got the help I needed within only a few hours. Do whatever it takes to care for the children you have. That's the ultimate responsibility you've been given.

(Yes, I was ashamed and embarrassed, but my baby was more, ohh.. so much more than my ego)

Get the help! Reach out! Dont be scared!