UPDATE: Iraq War Vet Kills Sister then Self, Mother Missing

Updated at 9:44 a.m., Friday. South Valley Middle School observed a moment of silence Friday morning for the 11-year-old murder-suicide victim, who was a sixth grader at the middle school. Counselors will remain on-hand throughout Friday and possibly on Monday to help students with their grief, school officials said. 

A 27-year-old Iraq War veteran was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound near the body of his sister inside their Gilroy apartment on Wednesday night, and investigators consider the case to be a murder-suicide, police said Wednesday.

Police were called to the The Redwoods apartment complex at 9005 Kern Ave. around 9 p.m. after a roommate who lived with the family called police suspecting something was wrong. Officers found the bodies of the suspect, Abel Gutierrez, and his sister, who were confirmed dead shortly after medical personnel arrived on scene.

Police found evidence suggesting that Gutierrez had shot his sister before turning the gun on himself, and determined that at least two firearms were used in the incident.

Martha Gutierrez, the siblings’ 52-year-old mother who also lives at the apartment, is missing and police fear she may be critically injured or dead based on forensic clues found at the scene. Martha might require immediate medical attention, and police are following several leads to determine her whereabouts. As of 7:34 p.m. Thursday, she was still missing, Gallacinao said.

"Our primary concern right now is to locate Martha,” he said. “We're desperately trying to find her.”

The 11-year-old victim is apparently Lucero Gutierrez, a San Jose Mercury News article states, although that information hasn’t been confirmed by police. 

“I’m not going to deny that information, but I’m not going to release it [either],” said Sgt. Chad Gallacinao of the Gilroy Police Department.

Gilroy Unified School District Superintendent Deborah Flores said she was a sixth grader at South Valley Middle School, which has 725 students enrolled in sixth, seventh and eighth grades.

Flores received a call early Thursday morning informing her that one of the middle school's students had been shot and killed. About 10 counselors were brought to the school and met with students at the library Thursday.

"We had students going to the library all day to meet with the counselors," Flores said.

A few students had to be sent home because they were so upset, she said. Flores added the 11-year-old's three teachers were also upset upon hearing about their student's murder.

Family members had suspected that Abel was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and police were helping the family coordinate treatment services with the Office of Veterans Affairs. 

Police had visited the Kern Avenue residence twice in the last six months, with the last time being in February, Gallacinao said.

“The family called in, they were concerned with [Abel’s] well belling,” Gallacinao said. “We contacted him, we contacted the family and determined that he was not a danger to himself or others—he did not commit any criminal violations.”

The officer who initially responded in February revisited the residence a week later to try and ensure services were coordinated between Abel and the Veterans Affairs office. The officer is a veteran himself, who was making “sure that his fellow veteran was taken care of,” Gallacinao said.

Kerrie Childress, a spokeswoman for the Department of Veterans Affairs Care System in Palo Alto, confirmed that Gutierrez was receiving care at a VA facility in Puget Sound, Wash., an Associated Press article states.

Gilroy police are asking anyone with information about Martha Gutierrez's whereabouts to call Detective Michael Bolton at (408) 846-0350. Anonymous tips can be left by calling the We-Tip line at 1-800-782-7463 (800-78-Crime). 

Gilroy Patch will have more updates if and when more information becomes available. 

—The Bay City News contributed to this report.