Year after Yountville veterans treatment center murders, victims remembered

Victims of mass shooting a year ago at Yountville veterans treatment center remembered

PRESS DEMOCRAT
MARTIN ESPINOZATHE
March 10, 2019
YOUNTVILLE

“The unthinkable happened. Yountville was put on a new map,” he said. “We’re used to being put on the map for a lot of things. But we’re not used to, nor did we expect to be put on the national map for the location of a mass shooting.”

It’s been a year of shattered dreams and indescribable grief for Kathy Gonzales, whose daughter, Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba — and her unborn child — were among the victims in the deadly shooting at the Pathway Home for veterans in Yountville.

The lives of psychologist Gonzales Shushereba, 32, Pathway Home executive director Christine Loeber, 48, and staff therapist Jen Golick, 42, were remembered during a solemn memorial Saturday afternoon.

About 100 people, including the victims’ families and friends, Yountville residents and local community leaders, gathered for the memorial in the Community Center on Washington Street.

“I’m just so happy they haven’t forgotten them,” said Gonzales, tearfully. “I’m grateful the women can be remembered.”

Gonzales Shushereba, Loeber and Golick were killed in the March 9, 2018, tragedy by Albert Cheung Wong, 36, a troubled Army combat veteran who had been treated for nearly a year at the nonprofit veterans residential treatment center on the grounds of the Veterans Home of California. Cheung Wong then shot himself.

The shooting shattered the tranquility of the bucolic Napa Valley town, thrusting it onto a national stage as Yountville became the latest site of a mass shooting in America, Yountville town manager Steve Rogers said during the memorial.
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Reporter took easy way out on Pathway report

Vets seek a path out of the darkness on The Sacramento Bee, Editor’s note: This column was originally published on Feb. 24, 2013 and it is by Foon Rhee, Associated Editor.

"There were a record 349 suicides last year in the active-duty military, many more than were killed fighting in Afghanistan. But the specter of suicide doesn’t end once service members come home. It gets worse."

Really? If this was published in 2013, then the 349 suicides would be about 2012. Where did he get those numbers from? 

This is from the DOD Suicide Report

That equals 525.

Maybe he needed to add to the reports of what happened at Pathway House? Maybe he should have done some checking first, before reposting it.

That is the part that gets to me the most. When you have something as serious as veterans committing suicide and struggling to heal, it should never be something easy to report on.

Pathway House Victims Include Pregnant Newlywed

UPDATE

The Pathway Home permanently closing Yountville space after fatal shooting

“As we continued to evaluate our short-term and long-term future, it just became more and more clear that would not go back into our facility at the Veterans Home,” he said Sunday. “That also would have an impact on our certification as a nonprofit, because the the facility has to have specific criteria to hold this treatment facility. (Furthermore), people can imagine the emotional and psychological impacts of losing our three friends and colleagues; to this day it weighs heavy on us as a board and as a staff.  

“We feel the best way we can move forward now is to support other nonprofits, either private nonprofits or federal and state VA organizations, who are providing similar services. We can shift our focus to supporting those efforts and advocating for veterans in other communities.”

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Veterans home workers remembered as devoted caregivers
Associated Press
Frank Baker
March 10, 2018

"Jennifer and her colleagues died doing the work they were so passionate about — helping those in critical need," her husband, T.J. Shushereba said in a statement. "Jennifer was adored by all who knew her and will always be remembered for her unconditional love and incredibly giving heart."

After a work conference, Maura Turner was looking forward to a girls' weekend with her close friend, Christine Loeber, a social worker and executive director of The Pathway Home that treats veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Christine Loeber, a victim of the veterans home shooting on Friday, March 9, 2018 in Yountville, Calif, as seen in September 2012. Loeber was executive director of the Pathway Home, a treatment program for veterans from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. TOM TURNER/AP

Turner went to Loeber's home in Yountville, California, on Friday and found the door locked. Soon after, she heard about a shooting and apparent hostage situation at the nearby veterans home where Pathway is located. And then came the devastating realization her friend was among the three women being held.

She called her husband, Tom Turner, in Dedham, Massachusetts.

"We heard the guy was a former patient and so I thought that was a positive," he said in a telephone interview Saturday with The Associated Press. "I figured he had to like her."

This undated photo provided by Muir Wood Adolescent and Family Services shows The Pathway Home Clinical Director, Dr. Jennifer Golick, a victim of the veterans home shooting on Friday, March 9, 2018, in Yountville, Calif. Dr. Golick was killed by a former patient at The Pathway Home, a treatment program for veterans from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. MUIR WOOD ADOLESCENT AND FAMILY SERVICES VIA AP

Friends and co-workers remembered Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba, 32, as a "brilliant" psychologist who was committed to both her family and her job treating veterans with post-traumatic stress.

Gonzales Shushereba was seven months pregnant. She was married a year ago and was supposed to travel to Washington, D.C., with her husband this weekend to celebrate their anniversary, family friend Vasiti Ritova said.
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Who was Albert Wong?

Who was Albert Wong? Here is what we know so far about Yountville shooter
Sacramento Bee
Ed Fletcher
March 10, 2018

Albert Wong, left, pictured in one of his Facebook photos before his page was removed Friday. Facebook

The gunman in Friday's deadly hostage standoff at the Veterans Home of California-Yountville has been identified by the Napa County Sheriff's Office as Albert Wong, 36, of Sacramento.

The Bee is continuing to investigate Wong and his Sacramento ties. Here is what we know so far:

Wong was an infantryman in the US Army and served in Afghanistan from April 2011 to March 2012, according to information provided by the Army.

During his service he was awarded an Army Commendation Medal, an Army Good Conduct Medal and campaign stars for fighting global terrorism and for marksmanship.

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Three hostages at Pathway House Killed in California

The veteran, Albert Wong, valued life so much, he joined the military. So what made him kill the people who were trying to help him save his own?

This story just may finally be the one that starts investigations into the "resilience" training that has been going on since 2009. 

Veterans are facing off with police officers more and more along with a high rate of suicides, murder-suicides and questionable deaths. Veterans Courts and charities are all over the country. Those are the results after every member of the military has had this training, including the one who just killed three.

Gunman, three hostages found dead at Yountville veterans facility: 'These brave women' killed
LA Times
Victoria Kim and Joseph Serna
March 10, 2018

The Napa County Sheriff-Coroner's office identified the shooter as 36-year-old Albert Wong of Sacramento, who formerly was housed at the Pathway Home, a residential program within the Yountville facility.

Fernando Juarez, 36, of Napa, embraces his sister Vanessa Flores, 22, at the Veterans Home of California in Yountville. Flores, a caregiver at the facility, exchanged texts with family while sheltering in place. (Ben Margot / AP)

Authorities identified the victims as the home's executive director, Christine Loeber, 48, therapist Jen Golick, 42, and Jennifer Gonzales, 29, a psychologist with the San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.

"These brave women were accomplished professionals who dedicated their careers to serving our nation's veterans," a representative of the Pathway Home said in a statement.

A gunman and three hostages were found dead Friday evening at a Northern California veterans home, concluding a standoff that lasted for about eight hours, officials said.

Shortly before 6 p.m., officers entered the room at the Yountville Veterans Home where the gunman had been holding the hostages. According to the California Highway Patrol, three women and a man — believed to be the gunman — were found dead.

"This is a tragic piece of news, one that we were really hoping we wouldn't have to come before the public to give," said Chris Childs, assistant chief of the CHP's Golden Gate Division.

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From Sacramento Bee

Department of Defense records show the gunman found dead with the three mental health workers he killed at California veterans home had a decorated U.S. Army career.The records obtained Friday said 36-year-old Albert Wong was awarded four medals, including an Afghanistan campaign medal with two campaign stars.Records showed Wong served as in the infantry during three years of active service in the U.S. Army ending August 2013.He was also awarded an Expert Marksmanship Badge with Rifle.Wong served one year in Afghanistan.