SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Police on Wednesday investigated the possibility that a love triangle might have motivated a 73-year-old gunman to fatally shoot the 62-year-old treasurer of a remote-controlled airplane club outside a building where the group was meeting.
Before turning the gun on himself, the shooter chased a woman from a parking lot into the lobby of the building on Tuesday night, firing multiple times but failing to hit her, Sacramento police Sgt. Andrew Pettit said.
He said detectives were looking into the possibility of romantic relationships involving the three people.
"I was shocked when I knew the suspect was in his 70s and the victim was in his 60s," Pettit said. He did not know the age of the woman.
The Sacramento County coroner's office identified the victim as Jerome Votaw of Sacramento, and the gunman as Robert Gully of West Sacramento.
A woman who answered the phone at Votaw's home said calls were not being taken. It was unclear if his wife was the woman who was chased at the meeting.
Gully got into an argument with Votaw and the woman in the parking lot, drew a gun and shot Votaw at least once in the upper body, Pettit said. He kept firing as the woman ran to the lobby, with bullets shattering a large glass door.
Another acquaintance calmed Gully and walked him back to the parking lot, Pettit said, but police heard Gully shoot and kill himself as they arrived shortly after 7 p.m. Several other witnesses and a building security guard were in the lobby or nearby during the shooting.
"It could have been a lot worse, especially with the people in there if he started shooting innocent bystanders," Pettit said. "We believe those two were his intended targets."
Pettit said it was not known if Gully arrived intending to do harm or if he acted spontaneously.
Votaw was treasurer of the 200-member Sacramento Area Modelers club, which bills itself on its website as offering one of the premier flying sites on the West Coast. Its facility southeast of Sacramento features a pit area and runway, snack bar and clubhouse made from a converted semi-trailer.
Club President John Bigwood and Vice President J.R. Schiager both declined comment on the shooting. Club secretary Bob Calvert said he did not want to discuss the attack.
"I think what's been reported is pretty accurate," Calvert said.
Members of the club fly large, radio-controlled model airplanes and meet monthly at the headquarters of the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District, a large, customer-owned electric company.
Members were seen Wednesday retrieving their model aircraft from the building.
The utility is looking into its policy on permitting private groups to use its facilities, Utility district spokeswoman Dace Udris said. No employees were involved in the incident, she said.
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