The two people who were found dead in a residence in unincorporated El Cajon on Thursday morning have been identified, officials said.
Police received a call around 9:45 a.m. on Thursday from a 14-year-old girl who said she came home and found her parents, 42-year-old Eric Orpinela and his wife, 39-year-old Denise Helen Orpinela, dead in their bedroom in the 200 block of East Bradley Ave., according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.
Deputies arrived and confirmed a man and a woman were dead, Lt. Joseph Jarjura with the sheriff's department said. Both victims had trauma to the upper torso and head areas.
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Eric and Denise both died of gunshot wounds, the preliminary results of the autopsies show. The cause of death for Denise was homicide, and Eric's was suicide. Eric is "the only suspect in the deaths," Jarjura said in a news release.
The circumstances and motivation are still being determined.
A neighbor at the Villa Cajon Mobile Home Estates told NBC 7 it was unusual to see so many police in their community.
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"I just saw the first cop car coming by my house really, really fast," Ana Maria Almaguer said. "Police never come here she said."
Almaguer said investigators asked her if she heard anything unusual at around midnight. She said she had not.
"We’re in shock, we’re in shock," Almaguer said. "We never expected this. We saw them just yesterday."
Neighbors described the victims as a husband and wife in their 40s; the other two children were under 10.
Family friend Yolanda Nichols was, of course, shocked by what happened.
"I am very shaken up still," Nichols said. "I feel like my legs are wobbly."
Nichols' granddaughter and the couple’s 14-year-old daughter just graduated eighth grade at Harriet Tubman Charter School last Friday.
"I felt like I was their grandma, too," Nichols said. "I tried to be. I am just very concerned. I just want to know they're OK."
NBC 7 spoke with several neighbors, who also said they didn't hear anything out of the ordinary overnight
Alamaguer described the couple and their children as a close-knit family who went everywhere together.
"They were nice people," Alamaguer said. "Very, very nice people."
Nichols said everything appeared to be normal at a graduation celebration last Friday.
"They looked excited because they are moving out of state, selling their home," Alamaguer said. "They seemed very happy. The kids were always great, always saying hi, always playing in the park. They had no fear."
Neighbors also said the couple's children would likely stay with their grandparents who live nearby.
