Partnership to end domestic violence reacts to Sacramento shooting

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KRON) - The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office has identified the victims killed in a Sacramento church as 9-year-old Samarah Mora Gutierrez, 10-year-old Samantha Mora Gutierrez and 13-year-old Samia Mora Gutierrez.

Police say the girls were having a supervised visit with their 39-year-old father when he opened fire on them and then shot himself.

The supervisor, 59-year-old Nathaniel Kong was also shot and killed.

The office of the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence is less than 10 miles from where the shooting took place.

The executive director of the partnership says the mother of the three girls did everything right from a restraining order to supervised visits. It’s the system that she says failed.

Monday night’s shooting at a church in Sacramento is part of a growing statistic of domestic violence.

Executive Director of the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence Dr. Aleese Moore-Orbih says of all the domestic violence cases reported last year in the state, around 2,000 were related to gun violence.

“Absolutely we need stricter gun laws, absolutely we do,"

Dr. Aleese Moore-Orbih said.

When three young girls, all under the age of 15, are shot and killed during a supervised visit at a church, many will point the finger of blame at their father who was the shooter.

But Dr. Moore Orbih says there is a much bigger picture we need to take a look at.

“We as a society allow the norms of violence in our world. Violence is ok to reinforce power,"

Dr. Moore-Orbih said.

She works each day to improve the systems that are supposed to be in place to protect survivors, especially the policies around restraining orders that Dr. Moore-Orbih says failed Monday night.

“Had a safety plan, had a restraining order, arranged for supervised visitations, all of the eyes were dotted and all of the T’s were crossed,"

Dr. Moore-Orbih said.

Investigators aren’t sure how the shooter was able to get a gun and are working to find answers for the victim’s families.

Dr. Moore-Orbih says it’s just as important for law enforcement to have continued training on domestic violence, as it is for them to solve their investigation.

“There’s no way in the world that they can protect women and children from violence if they don’t understand how it happens,"

Dr. Moore-Orbih said. The California Partnership to End Domestic Violence has a list of programs available by the county to anyone experiencing domestic violence. 

from KRON4 https://ift.tt/6RgTYCN