Preliminary results of autopsies completed Thursday on Los Alamitos police captain Rick Moore and his on-again, off-again girlfriend Amanda Jensen indicate that Moore fatally shot the woman before turning the gun on himself in a Seal Beach apartment.
Police were called about 7:20 p.m. Sunday by a woman requesting help, but then the line went dead, according to Seal Beach police Sgt. Michael Henderson.
Witnesses told police they heard several gunshots coming from the apartment, Henderson said.
Police thought it might be a barricade situation so they surrounded the apartment, and when SWAT officers could not contact anyone inside they got into the residence and found the bodies, Henderson said.
Jensen was Westminster’s city clerk.
“Preliminary (Orange County coroner’s autopsy) results have determined that Mr. Moore fatally shot Ms. Jensen three times with his personally owned .380 caliber semi-automatic handgun,” Henderson said.
“Mr. Moore died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot. A formal report and toxicology results are pending.”
A neighbor who lives and works as a maintenance man at the 21-unit apartment complex told reporters Moore had lived there for about four months and described the relationship between the two as “volatile.”
Garden Grove police were called to a residence where Moore and Jensen were living three times since last year for domestic disputes, according to Garden Grove police Lt. Carl Whitney.
In one call, Jensen was accused of attacking Moore, Whitney said.
A report was submitted to prosecutors but charges were never filed, Whitney said.
Jensen, whose maiden name is Amanda Coats, had a restraining order filed against her on Oct. 2, 1997, by Robert W. Cue III, according to court records.
Los Alamitos Police Department Chief Eric Nunez said Moore was with the department since January 2000. He received his final promotion in August when he became captain of patrol.
Moore was also an Army veteran, attaining the rank of second lieutenant. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Cal State Long Beach.
Moore also served as a board member with a nonprofit organization, Precious Life, that aids “wayward women are pregnant and need help,” and also was involved in the city’s emergency preparedness operations and was “well connected” with officials at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base, Nunez said.
Westminster Mayor Tri Ta said city officials “are deeply saddened about the tragic loss of Amanda Jensen. She was a great city clerk.”
–City News Service