California to pay $51 million in settlement over Yountville veterans home mass shooting

California officials have agreed to pay $51 million to settle some of the claims stemming from the 2018 shooting at the Yountville veterans home, where a gunman who was a former patient killed three women staffers before shooting himself, according to state budget documents.

The settlement “authorizes $51 million one time to pay for settlement costs at the Veterans Home of California, Yountville related to the 2018 shooting,” according to state budget documents approved by the Legislature this week.

Ronald Foreman, the attorney for the family of Dr. Jennifer Golick, a 42-year-old therapist killed by the gunman, said the settlement “is the first step in a long journey” and that other lawsuits over the incident are pending.

“That’s the first step in getting them compensation for the horrible tragedy they suffered on March 9, 2018, and continue to suffer,” Foreman said.

The $51 million included in the budget settles the four cases brought by the families of the three victims. Payments of $30 million will go to the estate of Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba; $14 million to the estate of Jennifer Golick; and $7 million to the estate of Christine Loeber, according to Lindsey Sin, with the state Department of Veterans Affairs.

The shooting has sparked wrongful death lawsuits, including at least two filed in federal court in San Francisco by the Golick family and the family of Christine Loeber, 48, a director at the home who was killed. Those suits are pending, according to court records, and Foreman said another case against the Napa County Sheriff’s Department is pending in an appellate court.

A third victim was Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba, 29, a clinical psychologist who was seven months pregnant.

The March 9, 2018, shooting was carried out by Albert Cheung Wong, a 36-year-old former Sacramento resident and Army veteran who had served in Afghanistan and was suffering from severe mental health issues and PTSD.

Wong was a patient at The Pathway Home, a residential treatment center for combat veterans on the Yountville campus.

About 700-plus veterans and family members live at the 615-acre Yountville property, the flagship of the state’s eight veterans homes and the largest facility of its kind in the nation. Under regular operations, it is an open campus, allowing visitors to come and go.

Wong did not live there, but received treatment through the 10-year-old Pathway program for about a year. In the wake of the 2018 tragedy, it has permanently closed.

On Dec. 20, 2017, Wong was hospitalized with a 5150 mental health hold at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, “where he expressed homicidal thoughts toward decedent Jennifer Golick,” court papers say.

Wong also “reported possession of multiple firearms immediately prior to his hospitalization and the ability to access firearms were he to be released from the hospital,” court papers say.

Despite that, he was released from the psychiatric ward after two days.

California veteran bought guns after psych hold

On Feb. 14, 2018, Wong purchased a Stoeger double barrel shotgun from a Napa sporting goods store, waited the 10-day waiting period and picked up the weapon on Feb. 25, according to a California Highway Patrol investigation.

While he was waiting, on Feb. 23, Wong bought a JP Enterprises Ultralite .308 caliber assault style rifle at a Burlingame gun shop, waited out the 10-day waiting period and picked it up March 5, four days before the shootings.

No one reported Wong’s 5150 hold or his threats while he was on the 5150 hold to law enforcement, which could have prohibited him from purchasing weapons, court papers say.

“At the time, Wong expressed homicidal thoughts toward specific individuals associated with the Pathway Program, including Jennifer Golick,” court papers say. “Wong also expressed suicidal intent with a plan to shoot and kill himself.

“To the Veterans Administration physicians and staff, Wong described a past altercation with a therapist named Jennifer and a more recent altercation with a new therapist named Christine, both of whom sparked homicidal thoughts for him.”

A Napa County District Attorney’s report found that Wong had been tossed out of the Pathway Home on Feb. 20 “due to his refusals to comply with program policies and treatment plan.”

“Wong had expressed extreme anger and frustration toward the clinical staff due to many prior disagreements and his recent discharge from the program,” the report found.

Shootout as Napa gunman takes hostages

The CHP and district attorney’s investigation of the shooting concluded that, after searching online for information on murder and suicide, Wong arrived at the home at 10:18 a.m. armed with both weapons, extra ammunition and 20-round magazines and ear and eye protection.

He visited the property the day before to prop open a basement door, ensuring he would be able to get into The Pathway Home treatment center, according to the CHP report.

In less than two minutes he was in the second-floor room where staff members and a few clients were gathered to say goodbye to a staff member.

He dismissed three veterans and then four staff members, several of whom began calling authorities, the CHP reported. Internal security cameras captured footage of the survivors leaving the room, some of them running and several on cellphones.

One of the cameras was aimed through the open door and caught the moment Wong kicked it shut, closing him in with the three victims.

Law enforcement responded to 911 calls of an “active shooter” and Deputy Steven Lombardi, a 26-year Napa County Sheriff’s Office veteran, confronted Wong as he took the women hostage in a group room, engaging in a gunfight.

“Deputy Lombardi fired a total of 13 rounds from his .223 caliber rifle at Wong during the shooting sequence which lasted approximately 10 seconds,” according to the D.A.’s report, which ruled the deputy’s use of force to be “reasonable and lawful.”

“Wong fired a total of 22 rounds from his .308 caliber rifle toward Deputy Lombardi during the shooting sequence,” the report added.

Wong then shot the victims with the rifle and shot himself in the head with the .12-gauge shotgun, the CHP report said. Lombardi survived the shootout. He retired in late 2020, according to the Napa County Sheriff’s Office.

Foreman said that by the time the deputy arrived the situation had become a hostage/barricade situation and that the suit against the sheriff that is pending stems from the claim that “the deputy shot blindly through the door” and sparked the killings of the victims.

This story includes reporting by The Press Democrat.