CrimeWatch

SAN MATEO (CBS 5 / KCBS / BCN) ― The shooting deaths of a San Mateo mother and an intruder during a home invasion last week was a murder-suicide, police concluded Thursday evening.
 
San Mateo police said their investigation in the high-profile case has found that intruder Raymond Gee, 22, fatally shot Loan Kim Nguyen Truong, 24, before turning the gun on himself.

At a news conference, Chief Susan Manheimer said the conclusion was reached through forensic analysis and evidence from the scene, such as bullets and shell casings.

Even though the murder-suicide occurred amidst a shootout between officers and Gee, no officers were responsible for the death of Truong or Gee, Manheimer said.

Police said they also determined Gee had been stalking Truong since the two met at a party in San Francisco on Halloween, and that he gave her a ride home that night after she apparently lost her purse.

During that ride, Gee allegedly drove Truong around for several hours against her will, and refused to take her home until she agreed to have lunch with him at a later time, according to Capt. Kevin Raffaelli.

When Gee eventually dropped Truong off at her house that night, her husband said she appeared distraught, Raffaelli said.

Gee had also obtained Truong's cell phone number when she used his phone to call hers while looking for her purse at the party, the police captain said.

Gee reportedly then pursued Truong, and e-mailed her to the point where she blocked the messages, said Raffaelli.

On the morning of Nov. 25, as Truong's husband left for work, Gee interrupted the power service of Truong's home at 29 Hobart Ave., then snuck into the house through the partially open garage door, according to Raffaelli.

Truong alerted her husband that the power was not working, and he returned home to restore the power, then left for work again, Raffaelli said.

All the while, Gee had positioned himself inside the second floor of their home, Raffaelli said.

Gee had with him items such as handcuffs, pepper spray and muscle relaxers, according to Raffaelli.

When Truong learned of Gee's presence inside her house she called 911, but the dispatcher could not determine her exact location, Raffaelli said.

She then text messaged her husband shortly after 9:30 a.m. that she was being robbed at gunpoint, and her husband called 911, Raffaelli said.

Officers responded to the house and attempted to enter, but Gee shot at them with a handgun, narrowly missing the officers, according to police.

A SWAT team was then called in and hostage negotiators attempted to contact Gee, but he refused to negotiate, police said.

Truong barricaded herself and her 1- and 3-year-old children inside a bedroom and through her own contact with officers, said she wanted to lower her children out the window, Raffaelli said.

As she was handing her children to the officers, Gee went to an adjoining bathroom and, through a small window, saw what was happening. He then fired seven shots through the wall at Truong and her children, Raffaelli said.

SWAT team members returned fire as her children were rushed to safety, police said.

Once the officers made entry into the house, they found Truong with a handcuff on one wrist, and suffering from three gunshot wounds to the back, Raffaelli said.

She was rushed to Stanford Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, Raffaelli said.

Gee was found dead in the bathroom suffering a single gunshot wound to the head, Raffaelli said.

Forensic results conclude the gunshots sustained by Gee and Truong came from Gee's gun, Raffaelli said.

Janice Dirden-Cook, program director for the University of San Francisco's Upward Bound program, of which Gee was a participant, said she was "shocked" to learn about what happened.

"This is certainly not the Raymond Gee that we all knew in the program," Dirden-Cook said. "He got along well with everyone."

Gee joined the program on his own accord while he attended Lincoln High School in San Francisco, according to Dirden-Cook.

"When Raymond first came to the program, I think what struck all of us was he was really motivated," Dirden-Cook said. "He recognized that he needed some help in order to reach his goals, and he sought the program out."

Dirden-Cook said Gee, who was from Oakland, came from a rough background but wanted to make his family proud, finish high school and go on to college.

"He was exposed to criminal elements in his community, but he recognized that those were negative influences in his life and was making a positive and real strong effort to rise above that," Dirden-Cook said.

With the conclusion that officers were not involved in either shooting death, San Mateo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said the district attorney's office will no longer investigate the events.

The district attorney's office is the primary investigator of any officer-involved shooting, but will cease its investigation into the Nov. 25 events since that possibility has been ruled out, Wagstaffe said.

For those interested in donating to a fund benefiting the children of Loan Kim Nguyen, please visit http://loankimnguyenmemorial.blogspot.com.

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