Retirement-home resident charged with murder of firefighter, attempted murder and arson

Seventeen years of serving as a firefighter had prepared Long Beach Fire Captain David Rosa for the numerous hazards associated with his job. He had spent most of his career working in the busiest stations in the city and even trained new recruits on how to be safe.
However, when he and his colleagues responded to a fire alarm at a local retirement home in the early-morning hours of June 25, the real danger they faced was one that no one could have anticipated.
As Rosa and other firefighters entered the facility in the 600 block of East 4th Street, one of its residents opened fire on them, shooting Rosa, his coworker Ernesto Torres and another resident of the home, killing Rosa and injuring the other two men.
Rosa’s almost two decades of service and 45 years of life came to a tragic end, as he was murdered by one of the citizens he was trying to protect.
Later that day, Rosa’s body was escorted to the LA County Coroner’s Office with full honors.
At a press conference at Long Beach Fire Department headquarters later that afternoon, Mayor Robert Garcia said the department, community and city had lost a hero that day.
“The entire city, as well as our fire department, is mourning the loss of someone who was very dear to our community,” Garcia said. “We all know that Captain Rosa was well loved in Long Beach, amongst his peers, but also in the community as well. So, our hearts, our love and our prayers go to his family and, of course, all of his friends and the department.”
The mayor also extended “thoughts and prayers” to Torres and his loved ones, “as he has to deal with this tragedy as well.”
“I also want to make a note that, because of today’s incident, we have had to evacuate about 80 seniors from the building,” Garcia added. “Those 80 seniors are receiving care and are currently sheltered at the Silverado Park Community Center here in Long Beach. We’ve partnered with the Red Cross, as well as other local agencies, to ensure that they’re receiving medical care, to ensure that they have their full health care.”
Garcia added that the relocated residents were also provided with counseling, as well as assistance from Animal Care Services, to make sure they had access to their pets.
At that press briefing, Long Beach Fire Chief Mike Duree spoke highly of Rosa, saying that his death has left a “void” in the department.
“It’s important to note: firefighters across the region, across our state and across our country, right now, are putting themselves in harm’s way in service to their community,” Duree said. “Captain Rosa answered that call this morning, in service to his community, and he paid the ultimate sacrifice in doing so. I don’t think we should ever lose sight of the fact that the men and women of law-enforcement and fire service are constantly at risk.”

The fire chief said that, to his knowledge, this incident was the first case in the city’s history of a firefighter being killed by another person in the line of duty.
Police Chief Robert Luna then provided preliminary information on the incident but also expressed frustration in the “large puzzle that we’re trying to put together” because there was still much that was unknown.
“At the end of the day, it is going to be one of our primary tasks, other than to support our brothers and sisters at the Long Beach Fire Department,” Luna said, “that we prosecute the individual that we’ve arrested to the full extent of the law.”
Luna explained that, at 3:49am, the fire department responded to the alarm at the multiple-story residential complex, but there were supplemental calls reporting a fire and an explosion, as well as occupants reporting a strong smell of gasoline in the area.
As units made their way to the location, fire crews noticed that windows had been blown out on the second floor of the building and the sprinkler system had been activated. Firefighters extinguished the blaze by 3:59am. At 4:08am, there were reports of shots fired after Rosa and Torres, who were rushing in to save lives, police said, were struck by gunfire. They were both transported to St. Mary Medical Center.
“Patrol officers immediately started to search for the shooter, as we normally do in these situations– try and isolate him and save anybody else from being shot,” Luna said. “We also immediately activated our SWAT team, which eventually responded. During the search, not only were there Long Beach police officers searching throughout this very large building, looking for additional victims– putting their safety at risk– but we were with Long Beach firefighters who knew what had just happened, but they didn’t hesitate. Everybody went back in, looking for additional victims.”
The police chief said the third shooting victim was only being identified as an elderly male resident of the building, and he had been hospitalized in stable but critical condition.
Torres was treated and later released, and he is expected to make a full recovery, officials said.
The Los Angeles County Bomb Squad also responded to the scene after it was determined an explosion had occurred during the incident and two suspicious devices had been found. The bomb squad rendered the scene safe and removed flammable liquids believed to be gasoline, police said.
A response team from the LA County District Attorney’s Office was also on scene to assist with the investigation.
“A person of interest was initially detained at the scene and transported to police headquarters for questioning and, subsequently, he was arrested,” Luna said. “The suspect has been identified as 77-year-old Thomas Kim, who was also a resident of this building. He has been booked for murder, two counts of attempted murder and arson and is currently being held on $2-million bail.”
Luna also said officers recovered a handgun at the scene.
A reporter asked Luna if police believe Kim intentionally started the fire as a set-up to lure responders in so he could shoot them. Luna said that scenario is indeed one possibility his staff was considering.
“That is one option that we’re looking at,” Luna said, “and that will be investigated because, obviously, if that’s the case, we want to know why, and we want to get the information out to our partner agencies to make sure they’re aware of the situation.”
However, a press release the City issued Wednesday stated that, upon further investigation, police have no reason to believe the fire was intentionally set as a lure.
“The Long Beach Police Department is aware of multiple erroneous news reports indicating that Long Beach firefighters were lured to suspect Kim’s residence in order to shoot them,” the press release states. “This information is inaccurate and was not released by the Long Beach Police Department.”
The City’s update indicated that, after law-enforcement had conducted multiple interviews and evaluated the evidence, the preliminary investigation has led investigators to believe the fire was not set to draw first responders to the location to ambush them, but was instead a result of a dispute between the suspect and a neighbor.
“Additionally, a note drafted by the suspect and recovered at the scene leads investigators to believe this was a murder-suicide attempt,” the press release states. “A motive for the shooting remains under investigation.”
On Wednesday, the Long Beach Police Department formally presented the case to the LA County District Attorney’s Office for filing consideration.
Rosa is survived by his wife and two adult children. His last assignment was at Fire Station 10, in central Long Beach.
Police are asking that anyone with information on the incident to call homicide detectives Malcolm Evans and Robert Gonzalez at (562) 570-5273. Anonymous tips may be submitted through “LA Crime Stoppers” by calling 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), downloading the “P3 Tips” app to a smartphone or visiting lacrimestoppers.org.