California Father Shot, Killed In Tent While Camping With His Young Daughters

A California father of two was shot to death Friday night while camping with his two daughters, ages 2 and 4. 

Tristan Beaudette, 35, was shot in the chest at about 4:45 a.m. on Friday, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s officials told the Los Angeles Times. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The children were not hurt in the shooting, the newspaper reported.

“The theory we are working with is he was shot inside the tent,” Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Rodney Moore told the newspaper on Sunday, adding that investigators were still sifting through evidence from the scene for leads, and had yet to identify a suspect.

“We are working this as a homicide at this point,” Lt. Moore said. “We are gathering evidence . . . it will take some time.”

Beaudette and his daughters were camping in Malibu Creek State Park, an 8,000-acre plus preserve 35 miles west of downtown Los Angeles, which has at least 60 campsites. The campground was nearly full at the time of the murder, according to KCAL 9, the local CBS affiliate in Los Angeles.

Beaudette’s wife, Erica, and the mother of the children, was not with them at the time, according to KCAL 9. Beaudette worked for a pharmaceutical company and held a PhD in chemistry from University of California, Berkeley, according to Time.com. His wife is a doctor.

Malibu Creek State Park served as the backdrop for the TV series “MASH,” as well as the movies “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and the original “Planet of the Apes,” according to the Los Angeles Times, and is a well-known destination spot for Angelenos on weekends.

The campground will be closed through Thursday, June 28, while police investigate the murder and look for suspects.

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