Three Natomas Students Killed in Church Shooting

Samarah, Samantha and Samia Gutierrez in an undated photo. / GoFundMe Photo

BY BRANDY TUZON BOYD
THE NATOMAS BUZZ | @natomasbuzz
Updated 3 p.m.

The Natomas community today is reeling from news that three children killed during a murder-suicide incident yesterday were students at two local schools.

Five people are dead following a shooting which occurred Monday, Feb. 28 at The Church on Wyda Way in the Arden Arcade neighborhood.

Source: Google Maps

The shooter, David Mora Rojas, 39, was having a supervised visit with his children when he reportedly shot and killed the person chaperoning the visit, Nathaniel Kong, 59, and his three daughters before turning the gun on himself.

The children have been identified by the Sacramento County Coroner as Samantha Mora Gutierrez, 10, Samarah Mora Gutierrez, 9, and Sami Mora Gutierrez, 13. The girls attended Bannon Creek School and Leroy Greene Academy in Natomas.

“We learned late Monday night that the students lost yesterday in the tragic incident that happened at the church in the Arden area were Natomas Unified students,” read an email message sent this morning to families with children who attend schools in the Natomas Unified School District. “There are very few words that can give comfort right now for this unspeakable tragedy.”

The school district had its Social-Emotional Support Team as well as chaplains from the Sacramento Police Department available at both schools the girls had attended to provide grief counseling and support and encouraged those at other schools to contact their school principal for help if needed.

“It’s with immeasurable sadness I’ve learned about the tragic taking of lives of members of our Natomas district education family,” Natomas Unified school board president Micah Grant posted on social media this morning. “My deepest thoughts and prayers are with the family and all those who have been impacted by this unspeakable tragedy.”

Sacramento city Councilmember Jeff Harris, who represents the area of Natomas where the girls attended school, described the incident as “devastating.”

“Domestic violence leads to terrible outcomes,” Harris said. “We’re just heartbroken that Natomas children died at the hands of their father.”

Echoing Harris’s sentiments, Sacramento Vice Mayor Angelique Ashby also thanked the school district for taking quick action to make support services available to students.

“As we learned late last night and confirmed early this morning the three young victims of yesterday’s tragic incident are part of our Natomas family,” Ashby added. “We are all devastated by the senseless loss of these children. Their mom, friends and family are in our prayers today.”

In a statement made to the media Sacramento Sheriff Scott Jones said law enforcement did not believe there are outstanding suspects related to the shooting. Jones also reported that the children’s mother, not at the church at the time of the incident, was unharmed.

A GoFundMe has been set up for the family of Samarah, Samantha and Samia Gutierrez at https://www.gofundme.com/f/n59pvg-funeral-expenses-for-the-gutierrez-family.