Ken Hively/Los Angeles Times
The body of the Santa shooter, 45-year-old Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, is removed from a Sylmar home on Christmas Day.
The grim task of identifying some of the victims of that vicious Christmas Eve attack in Covina has been completed. Nine people died in that holiday massacre. Today the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office released the names of six victims, all relatives of the ex-wife of the shooter, Bruce Jeffrey Pardo.
More than two dozen people were at the holiday gathering when Pardo barged in wearing a Santa suit. The recently divorced and unemployed engineer, shot several victims and then used a homemade device to set the home of his ex-in-laws on fire. Several hours later, Pardo committed suicide.
Killed in the attack were 80-year-old Joseph Ortega and his 70-year-old wife Alicia, 50-year-old Charles Ortega and his 45-year-old wife Cheri, 51-year-old Teresa Ortega, and 46-year-old Alicia Oritz. Still listed as missing are Pardo’s ex-wife Sylvia, her 52-year-old brother James Ortega, and her nephew 17-year-old Michael Ortiz. Authorities say they’re having difficult identifying the badly burned remains of the final three victims.
