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Husband Allegedly Shot And Killed Wife, Security Guard, Then Self In Front Of Their 6 Kids
Security guard Marco Carral Duran died trying to protect Erica Chanon Pantoja and her six children from her estranged husband, Salvador Pantoja, who killed Duran and Pantoja before committing suicide.
An estranged husband killed his wife and a nearby security guard in a double murder-suicide in front of the couple's six children, who are now orphaned.
Salvador Pantoja, 33, approached his estranged wife, 29-year-old Erica Chanon Pantoja, outside of her San Jose, California apartment building shortly after midnight on Sunday, according to a statement from the San Jose Police Department. The two proceeded to then have an argument in the parking lot in front of their six children, NBC Bay Area reports.
Police described their argument as a “domestic dispute.”
Soon, police received a call that multiple people had been shot. When they arrived around 1:00 a.m, “they located two adult male victims and one adult female victim suffering from at least one gunshot wound each.”
All three were pronounced dead at the scene.
A preliminary investigation revealed that the other man was “an uninvolved male [who] attempted to intervene,” according to police. That man has since been identified as security guard Marco Carral Duran, 23, according to NBC Bay Area.
“The suspect shot the uninvolved male at least one time and then shot the female as well,” police noted. “The suspect was found at the scene deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The motive and circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.”
Maria Isabel Chanon, the victim's sister, told the station that one of the children claimed Duran was an angel.
“She said that he went to ask 'What’s going on?'" she said. "And then, he was there and she was confused when [her father] shot him and shot my sister. [Duran] told the kids to run and they all started running for their lives."
Duran is being remembered as a hero who tried to defend a woman and protect her six children.
“He was a very, very positive person. He was always willing to give out a helping hand,” Gustavo Silva, Duran's cousin, told NBC Bay Area.
The San Jose Police Officers' Association Charitable Foundation has established a fund for the six orphaned children.
