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Thomas Kim, 77, has been identified as the man who shot and killed Capt. Dave Rosa, the 45-year-old Fire Department captain in Long Beach, California, on June 24, 2018. Kim killed Rosa in a shooting at his senior housing facility.
Kim was arrested on suspicion of murder, attempted murder, and arson after he intentionally lit a fire at the 11-story Covenant Manor. As firefighters were investigating, Kim shot two of them. Rosa was initially in critical condition and later pronounced dead at St. Mary Medical Center, while the other firefighter, 35-year-old Ernesto Torres, remained in stable condition. Rosa’s body was escorted with full honors from St. Mary to the coroner’s office around 12:20 p.m. PST.
Covenant Manor, the senior housing facility where the fire and shooting took place, hosts 100 one-and-two-bedroom apartments for low-income people who are 62 or older or disabled adults older than 18. Covenant Maor is located in the 600 block of E. 4th Street in the downtown area of Long Beach, California.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s bomb, LAPD, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosive were all on the scene.
Kim, 77, remains in jail on $2 million bond.
via LA Times:
Rosa and another firefighter, Ernesto Torres, 35, were struck by gunfire inside the 11-story building as they helped to trace what had triggered the building’s sprinkler system and forced residents to shelter in place, said Jake Heflin, a spokesman for the Long Beach Fire Department. A third person, an elderly man who lives in the building, was also shot and is in stable but critical condition, Luna said.
Rosa and Torres were shot near the unit where the blast occurred, officials said. Both were taken to St. Mary Medical Center. Torres, a 12-year veteran of the agency, was treated and released.
While a weapon was recovered from the scene, authorities say that investigators are still working to put together a “big puzzle”
Rosa, a 17-year fire department veteran, is survived by his wife and two children, aged 16 and 25-years-old.
