Paul Pelosi beating suspect grew up in B.C., sister says she’s ‘deeply saddened’ by attack and wants to know more about suspects
This article is more than 1 year old
This article is more than 1 year old
Kathleen Pierzina and her family are still struggling to understand why the former vice president of the United States and his wife were shot dead in their home in Washington on Saturday night.
The killings are the latest in a series of violent incidents in the United States – including the death of a police officer in Ohio – that have captured the attention of the international community.
Pierzina’s sister, Lourdes, told the Guardian that the attack was “horrific” and her family were still trying to process the information.
Lourdes Pierzina. Katharine Riconda/Reuters
“It’s not what you imagine when you’re a little girl growing up in a family who has two parents and you know you’re going to be a good mom and a good grandmom,” she said.
“And you always think your parents would protect them.
“But here you have an adult who shot my sister at point-blank range and her husband. So for us, to know that my sister was sitting in her living room with them and they didn’t shoot them is unimaginable. And the fact that they shot them so close to the door of an apartment is also unimaginable.”
Pierzina, 49, and the Washington Post journalist Chisomo Nduka were standing in their kitchen working on Saturday night when the shooting occurred in their second-floor Washington home.
A neighbour heard a loud bang and called 911 but police said they received no information on a firearm.
Pierzina was shot in the back but his wife, who was struck in the chest, was said to be holding a gun.
An earlier statement from the Washington Metro police department said officers responded to the call from the home just after 10pm, where the couple had been speaking with someone outside the home.
They were taken to
