Among those mourning the death of Dora Gutierrez in Sunday’s
murder-suicide on Diablo Drive has been the staff at Mission Cafe
in San Juan Bautista, where she had worked the past two years as a
cook. Mission Cafe owner Karen Berger on Wednesday called
Gutierrez, 42, a wonderful cook who loved her family
– including three children – and one of the hardest-working
people she has met.
”
You could not find a harder-working person,
”
Berger said.
”
She was just a neat all-around lady. I called her our Energizer
Bunny.
”
Among those mourning the death of Dora Gutierrez in Sunday’s murder-suicide on Diablo Drive has been the staff at Mission Cafe in San Juan Bautista, where she had worked the past two years as a cook.
Mission Cafe owner Karen Berger on Wednesday called Gutierrez, 42, a wonderful cook who loved her family – including three children – and one of the hardest-working people she has met.
“You could not find a harder-working person,” Berger said. “She was just a neat all-around lady. I called her our Energizer Bunny.”
Gutierrez died Sunday night when a man whom authorities believe was an estranged boyfriend shot the resident at her Diablo Drive apartment home before apparently killing himself. Hollister police Sgt. David Westrick on Wednesday said “all indications” point to a murder-suicide. Police are “still trying to” identify the man killed in the incident, Westrick said, while sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Roy Iler had not returned phone calls before publication regarding identification confirmation from the coroner.
Westrick said he could not elaborate as to why police were continuing identification efforts.
Gutierrez’s 22-year-old daughter, who lives at the home with her 5-year-old daughter, was shot in the abdomen but is recovering after transport to a Bay Area hospital. The police spokesman confirmed the 22-year-old and her daughter have been reunited. That young daughter, among the four at the residence during the incident, was not injured.
Berger noted how Gutierrez had worked at Mission Cafe for two years and that she had moved here from Mexico many years back. She said Gutierrez had been getting ready to start marketing her own brand of salsa.
“Our whole Mission Cafe staff, we’re just devastated,” Berger said.
Details remain largely unclear at this point from the apparent murder-suicide. Westrick said the investigation is continuing, and so the police department is declining a request from the Free Lance for information about the type of gun used and its registration, he said.
The newspaper also requested audio or a transcript from the 911 call made reporting someone had been shot at the home. Police Chief Jeff Miller in an e-mail response said the department still is investigating the matter so it would not release such records. But he also wrote that the police department will not be releasing the information from the 911 tape after the probe is done.
“In many instances people calling 9-1-1 may say things they would prefer remain confidential, such as medical information or attitudes or emotions about an event or a person who is the basis of the call (such as a dispute with a neighbor or relative),” Miller wrote. “In other cases, people calling 9-1-1 may want to remain confidential out of fear of retaliation or of garnering attention.
“In some cases, people without documentation of immigration status may fear the release of such tapes or transcripts could result in contact from Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
“In any case, we do not want to discourage people from calling 9-1-1 to make a report of criminal, safety or suspicious activity.”
County communications dispatchers received a 911 call from a woman reporting she had been shot, according to a statement. The woman said that a man shot her, then shot her mother and himself. Officers from the Hollister Police Department and San Benito County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the home and discovered the apartment locked and secured with a metal security door.
The shootings occurred in the 1400 block of Diablo Drive on Hollister’s south side. Police estimated there were about three to four shots fired and no signs of forced entry, said Capt. Carlos Reynoso. He noted that neighbors had heard screaming and yelling before the shots were fired.
This story will appear in the Pinnacle on Friday.
