Deputy LA City Attorney Kills Wife, Son At Northridge Home In Apparent Double Murder-Suicide

NORTHRIDGE (CBSLA) – A Los Angeles deputy city prosecutor shot his wife and adult son at his home in Northridge before turning the gun on himself, authorities said Wednesday.

A little after 9 a.m., Los Angeles police officers responded to a report of shots fired at a home in the area of Vanalden and Plummer avenues where they found the three victims dead at the scene. Their names were not immediately released. A woman in her 20s was inside the home at the time of the shooting but was able to escape, police said.

LAPD Lt. Mike Kozak described the incident as a "family violence situation" and said there was no danger to the community. No suspects were being sought. There was no word on a motive.

A husband and wife in their 60s lived at the home with their two adult children, police said. Two handguns were found in the home.

City Attorney Mike Feuer later identified the husband as Deputy City Attorney Eric Lertzman in what Feuer called a "horrible tragedy".

"As we search for answers to how this could happen, we mourn the victims and envelop those left behind with our love during this time of unbearable loss," Feuer said in a statement. "Of course we will provide members of our City Attorney Family with needed counseling and support."

A neighbor told CBSLA's Amy Johnson the daughter ran to his house this morning and told him her dad had shot at her after shooting her mother. The daughter - who the neighbor identified as "Rachel" - jumped out of the window of her home to escape, according to the neighbor.

Lertzman was on disability leave, according to Johnson.

Police could not immediately confirm if the shooting was a murder-suicide.