Los Angeles - The photo of the Lupoe family on their now
cancelled Facebook account showed the smiling faces of a happy
American family.
Their tidy new home in a Los Angeles suburb seemed like a poster
for the American dream.
But that dream lay in bloody tatters Wednesday following a
suspected murder-suicide in which the father killed his five small
children and his wife before turning the gun on himself.
Such acts seem to defy explanation, but there is little doubt that
the ever-growing economic stress faced by many in the US lay behind
the tragic incident. Both the parents had recently lost their jobs as
medical technicians at a local hospital.
With five small mouths to feed, a mortgage to pay and no prospects
for employment, 'why leave our children in someone else's hands?'
reasoned an obviously desperate Ervin Antonio Lupoe in a rambling
note sent to police and a local TV station.
By the time police arrived at the Lupoe home it was too late. The
twin two-year-old boys lay dead next to their mother in a back
bedroom. The eight-year-old daughter and five-year-old twins were
found dead in a back bedroom. Next to them lay their father, a
handgun by his side, the house still smelling of gunpowder.
Even more tragic was the fact that area police are becoming used
to such chilling scenarios - and even worse. Tuesday's shooting
followed a horrific Christmas Eve killing in which a recently
unemployed and divorced man dressed up as Santa Claus and attacked
participants at a family party killing his ex-wife and eight of her
relatives. He later killed himself.
In October, an unemployed money manager in the prosperous Porter
Ranch area killed his wife, three children and mother-in-law before
killing himself. There have also been several cases of homeowners
committing suicide after receiving notices of foreclosure.
With unemployment in Los Angeles at a 14-year high of 9.5 per cent
and climbing - higher than the national rate - Los Angeles Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa fears there could be more.
'Unfortunately this has become an all too common story in the last
few months but that does not and should not lead people to resort to
extreme measures,' said Villaraigosa. 'I don't think there is any
shame in this economy for anybody who has been laid off in accessing
support and help to get through this because it is a traumatic
experience.'
Los Angeles is considered especially vulnerable to economic-
related stress because of the relatively high cost of housing, a high
rate of foreclosures and a local culture that is steeped in the
trappings of fame and economic success.
Ken Kondo, the press spokesman for the Los Angeles Department of
Mental Health, estimates that calls into the department's hotline are
more than double last year's level of 32,000. In the last six months
alone, the hotline has received 22,000 calls related to economic
stress, he told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
'Since the rise of foreclosures and unemployment we have seen a
huge increase in calls,' Kondo said. 'Now is a particularly bad time
since it's what we call the holiday blues. People's families have
left, the bills for all the holiday spending are starting to come due
so people are becoming isolated and sometimes angry.'
The dire economic situation is also impacting the organisation's
ability to help. Drastic state budget cuts would slash the program
just as it's needed most, Kondo said. 'It would have a terrible
impact especially with the amount of traumatic incidents we are
having.'
The latest tragedy sent a shockwave through Los Angeles and has
been the main story in local news reports.
'The news is so bad these days so it's not surprising that there's
been an increase in feelings of depression, despair, hopelessness and
even suicide,' said an anchor on local station KTLA, which like other
Los Angeles channels gave viewers a list of organisations that could
be contacted for help.
But neighbours of the late Lupoe family, who crowded into a local
church Tuesday night to meet with local officials, said that their
neighbourhood needed jobs, not advice. The economic downturn has hit
the area especially hard since many breadwinners were employed at the
nearby Los Angeles Port, which has seen traffic plummet in recent
months.
'All the hotlines in the world won't help if we don't have jobs,'
said truck-driver Jaime Solache, according to KTLA. 'I just pray this
never happens again, but I won't be surprised if it does.'
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