Authorities Plan Update In Condo Shooting Deaths

Published January 4, 2012 8:36AM (EST)

SAN DIEGO (AP) — David and Karen Reis came from a tight-knit, religious family and seemed inseparable at times. They died together at David's condominium, two of four people killed in a New Year's Day shooting.

The San Diego County Sheriff's Department plans an announcement Wednesday on its investigation into the four deaths. Two Navy pilots stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar were among the dead, including David Reis.

Investigators have said little beyond ruling out that any suspects are at large. "There's a lot of evidence that we're sifting through," San Diego County Sheriff's Capt. Duncan Fraser said Tuesday.

One man was found dead in the doorway of the three-story condo in Coronado and the bodies of two men and a woman were inside the home. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that a fourth victim was a 31-year-old man from suburban Chula Vista.

The deaths shook Coronado, a picturesque peninsular enclave of 24,000 people on San Diego Bay that draws tourists and recorded only one homicide in 2010. The city is home to Naval Air Station North Island, serves as a training area for Navy SEALs, and is a haven for Navy retirees.

David Reis, 25, held a mechanical engineering degree from the University of New Mexico and had just taken his first flight aboard an F/A-18 fighter jet. His sister, Karen, 24, graduated from the University of California, San Diego, in 2009 and stayed in the area, coaching volleyball and working at a grocery store.

The siblings grew up together in Bakersfield and were close to each other even after college, said Monsignor Michael Braun of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church. David, an Eagle Scout, took his younger sister under his wing when they were altar servers together.

"The family can't find a picture of him without her in it," said Braun.

The family was together in San Diego last week to prepare for the possibility that David would be assigned elsewhere, Braun said. They will be buried together.

Karen Reis, who lived in San Diego, coached volleyball twice a week to children 12 and younger, and worked at a grocery store. Genuine Volleyball Club's website says she was completing course work toward becoming an occupational therapist.

"She was on to great stuff," said Marc Lomeli, director of volleyball club. "She had incredible passion for the game. She had a patience and calm persistence with the kids to really work with them to reach their potential."

David Reis shared the Coronado condominium with two Navy pilots, said neighbor Don Hubbard, a retired Navy commander.

Hubbard was awakened by shots that he thought were fired by New Year's revelers. He went back to sleep, but two hours later got a phone call and heard SWAT teams swarming the area.

He believes he saw one of the pilots, but not Reis, lying in the doorway. He said the other pilot was out of town at the time of the shootings.


By Salon Staff

MORE FROM Salon Staff


Related Topics ------------------------------------------