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L.A. Assemblyman's Father's Found Murdered In Silver Lake
The 78-year-old father of local Assemblyman Mike Gatto was fatally shot in his Silver Lake home in a possible home-invasion robbery on Wednesday.
Police responded to a call around 8:15 p.m. last night when the daughter of Joseph Gatto had found his body slumped over on a chair with a gunshot wound to his stomach, according to CBS Los Angeles.
"Detectives are processing the crime scene in the house and they're going to be cavassing the neighborhood for witnesses to see if anybody saw or heard anything," LAPD Detective Gus Villanueva
told NBC Los Angeles. The home had been ransacked.
The elder Gatto was a retired schoolteacher from serving the Los Angeles Unified District for more than 40 years, and was also a jewelry craftsman. The Assemblyman moved to Silver Lake when he was five years old and was elected to serve the 43rd District in 2010, which represents areas including Silver Lake, Burbank, Glendale, Los Feliz, Hollywood, and Atwater Village.
"The Assemblyman learned of his death by phone in Sacramento. He is absolutely devastated," Justin Hager, a spokesman for the assemblyman, wrote in an email to KPCC.
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