Stepfather, 73, accused of killing 11-year-old stepdaughter and stabbing wife

ByABC7.com staff KABC logo
Friday, August 31, 2018
Dad allegedly stabs wife and stepdaughter
Dad allegedly stabs wife and stepdaughter

GARDEN GROVE, California -- An 11-year-old girl is dead and her mother is injured following a shooting and stabbing in Garden Grove, California that ended with the child's stepfather in custody, police said.

Garden Grove police identified the suspect as Tanh Thien Tran, the 73-year-old stepfather of the 11-year-old girl who was stabbed to death.

Police were called to the home on a domestic violence report. They found a 36-year-old woman in front of the house bleeding from stab wounds. She said her three children were still inside, as was the suspect.

Police say Tran is the stepfather of the girl and a 6-year-old boy and the biological father of a 3-year-old boy.

Officers say they went to the back of the home where they found the suspect holding a knife and bleeding from self-inflicted knife wounds.

As one group of officers tried to convince Tran to surrender, another group entered the home and brought out the two boys, both unharmed.

The girl was in the same room as the suspect. But as officers were negotiating with him, other officers were able to pull the wounded child out and get her outside the home.

She was transported to a local hospital, where she later died.

The officers negotiating with Tran used bean-bag rounds to subdue him and take him into custody.

Police say the girl's mother was also shot. She was listed in stable condition at a local trauma center.

Tran was treated for the self-inflicted wounds, described as superficial, and was taken into custody.