Los Alamitos police officers were struggling Tuesday to make sense of what happened with their fallen co-worker and his on-again, off-again girlfriend, who were both found shot to death in a Seal Beach apartment early Monday.
Some answers could come as early as Wednesday when the autopsy of 49-year-old Rick Moore, who was a Los Alamitos police captain, might be performed.
However, it is more likely Moore’s autopsy will be performed Thursday along with 37-year-old Amanda Jensen, according to sheriff’s Lt. Lane Lagaret.
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 an apartment in the 100 block of Seventh Street in Seal Beach, he said.
[symple_googlemap title=”Murder-suicide” location=”100 Seventh Street, Seal Beach, Ca” height=”300″ zoom=”13″]
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.
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.”
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 he struggled to understand what happened. Most of Moore’s co-workers are concerned it was a murder-suicide.
“Either he’s a victim or a suspect — either way what do you do? It’s just so difficult,” Nunez said.
The department hopes for answers soon, “to bring some sort of closure to people here and the community of Los Alamitos,” Nunez said. “People are confused and they just need some clarity on this issue.”
Moore was with the department since January 2000, Nunez said. 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.
“He was a hard worker,” Nunez said. “He was a fan of country music and he loved to go to the river.”
Moore also served as a board member with a nonprofit organization, Precious Life, that aids “wayward women [who are] are pregnant and need help,” Nunez said.
Moore 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.
–City News Service