A 54-year-old man shot last week at a Stockton workout facility has died in what has officially has been classified as a murder-suicide, police said Wednesday.
The victim was identified by the San Joaquin County Medical Examiner’s office as Robert Nelson Jr. of Stockton.
Nelson was shot shortly before 8 a.m. Thursday at the CrossFit gym on west Eight Mile Road. Authorities identified the gunman as Miguel Lopez, 35, a former California Highway Patrol officer who lived in Lodi.
Lopez was found dead at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said, while Nelson was transported to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Police have not disclosed a motive in the now-fatal attack, but it followed a homicide earlier that morning in Southern California, some 370 miles south of Stockton.
Police in Garden Grove, in Orange County, were called to check on the residents of a home in the 11500 block of Morgan Lane. Garden Grove police said they also received a call from a girl at the address who said her mom needed help.
Once there, officers found a woman identified as Crystal Gonzalez, 37, of Lodi, dead inside. The girl and another child identified Lopez as their father and Gonzalez as their mother, and police determined the two were married.
Lopez’s vehicle was located later that morning in Stockton, and authorities across multiple agencies were notified of the separate shootings.
Before leaving the CHP, Lopez had worked out of the Hayward station before transferring to Stockton.
Regarding Lopez’s past employment, the CHP issued a statement, saying: “The alleged conduct of this former employee does not reflect the professionalism of the thousands of CHP members who pledge to provide the highest level of safety, service, and security to the people of California.”