Kao Xiong

The offence

Kao Xiong shot and killed five children in their apartment, then shot himself in the head. Police said the five children were aged between 2 and 8 years old.

Television station KTXL identified the man as Kao Xiong and reported that he had argued with his wife before the shootings. Police believed a shotgun and a rifle found in the apartment were both used in the killings.

Investigation

Police received 911 calls from neighbors shortly after 4 p.m. Officers forced open the locked door and found six bodies. Police said the woman and two children who escaped were being questioned by investigators.

Lt. David Paroli said one boy escaped through a bathroom window and another escaped through the front door. The apartment building was in the Del Paso Heights district of Sacramento, described as a low-income area on the city’s north side.

Police believed the wife had been out when the shootings occurred and did not know what happened until she arrived home and found police there.

Lt. John Kane said what set Xiong off on Saturday remained unclear. He said Xiong had no prior criminal record.

People

Kao Xiong

Kao Xiong was identified by television station KTXL as the man who shot and killed five of his children and then fatally shot himself. AsianWeek.com described him as 31, and police described him as being in his early 30s.

Mai Thao

Mai Thao was Xiong’s wife. She returned to the one-bedroom apartment less than 24 hours after the killings to mourn, and found a police seal on the door. She was turned away after trying to enter the crime scene and was told to leave.

Children who died

Police found the bodies of:

• Kong Meng Xiong, 7
• Lisa Xiong, 5
• Kong Pheng Xiong, 3
• Peter Xiong, 2
• Micky Xiong, 1

Television station KTXL reported the children were aged 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7.

Other children who escaped

Vichian, 14, and Cheng, 9, escaped unharmed. One escaped by climbing through a bathroom window.

Another report said the two older children who escaped were 9 and 14, and that the father’s killings resulted in five children aged between 2 and 8 years old.

Timeline

• Saturday afternoon (shortly after 4 p.m.) — Police received 911 calls; officers forced open the locked door and found six bodies.
• Saturday — Mai Thao’s husband, Kao Xiong, killed five of their children and fatally shot himself.
• Sunday — Mai Thao returned to the apartment to mourn and was turned away after trying to enter the crime scene.
• Less than 24 hours before — Mai Thao returned after her husband had killed five children and himself.

Other details

The Commercial Appeal described the case as an apparent murder-suicide in which the father shot and killed five children in their apartment.

Sacramento Police suspect the man carried out the shootings after a fight with his wife, who with two other children eluded harm.

A neighbor, Lao Thao, said the man had worked with him as a golf course maintenance worker for the past month. The family came to the United States from Laos about seven years earlier, according to the neighbor.

The building manager, Lao Lee, said the family moved into the one-bedroom apartment four months earlier and seemed like good people. Lao Lee said: “They get along with people here,” and “They do not have any problem.”

A co-worker described an argument about plans to spend $400 on a new hunting jacket, and said Xiong then took the money and gambled it away. Another account said the wife was angry at her husband and asked money to buy jackets for the children.

Mai Thao and the two surviving children were staying with relatives in Stockton, police said.

The case involved religious and community organisations called to comfort the family, including Catholic Social Services volunteers Christine and Cal Bock, who were called to the apartment building.

Some neighbors reported hearing Thao and Xiong fighting before the shootings.

Sacramento Lt. John Kane said Xiong lived in Stockton before moving to Sacramento.

Pheng Lo, program director for the Lao Family Community in Stockton, said he met Xiong a few times while he lived in east Stockton. He said: “He seemed to be a calm, nice person.”

Chong Cha of Lodi said Xiong warned his cousin that he would kill his children when his father talked with Xiong over the phone shortly before the shootings. Cha drove 35 miles from Lodi as quickly as possible after receiving the warning, but arrived too late. Cha said: “They were a good family,” and “We never expected this.”

Christine Bock said: “This is a very tight community,” and added: “Many families knew each other in refugee camps in Thailand, and children in the building often play together.”

On hearing the shootings, an administrator in the Sacramento City Unified School District, Lue Vang, said: “What makes a man do such a thing?” and wondered, just as he did last year when he heard that “a 24-year-old mother had strangled her six children in St. Paul, Minn. Khoua Her was eventually sentenced to 30 years in prison.”

Ghia Xiong, a health program manager at the Fresno Center for New Americans, said: “What about violence? Reports of violence are ‘something the media plays up,’” and added: “Hmongs are identified as the bad, the worst group of the Southeast Asians.”

John Hwang, an Asian American studies professor at Sacramento State University, said: “Compared to other groups with similar income statistics, Hmong have lower rates of violence,” and also said: “They are now in higher education graduating with BAs, MAs, and PhDs, We are seeing more Hmong youngsters in higher education. It is a very dramatic change.”

Rico Her, 23, said: “As the oldest of 12 children,” and described a “struggle,” explaining: “People feel if they become Americanized they’ll lose their culture, but if they are not Americanized, they’ll be poor.” He said: “Others, he said, have ‘fallen into drugs and alcohol because their parents didn’t push them to stay in school.’” He later said: “She pressures me to finish school and get a job. She sees relatives who married early and got divorced. She realizes you can’t apply old traditions to a new, modern way of living.”

Her explained that he had “Most Hmong children don’t get this treatment,” and said: “They still think traditionally.”

Her said: “Violence is a result of frustration and anger” and stated: “This is not a Hmong problem; it’s an American problem,” and “A husband killing his whole family back in Laos -- you wouldn’t have heard of such a problem. Domestic violence, gang violence are an American phenomena.”

Vang stressed that to succeed in the United States, Hmongs must be open to cultural adjustments, saying: “Compromises must be made.”

Xiong’s father had kept guns in the home, according to Lo.