The family of a 49-year-old man who opened fire at a San Diego pool party, leaving one woman dead and seven others wounded, says they cannot fathom what may have caused him to do this.
"Words cannot express our profound grief and sorrow for all the victims and their families," the gunman's sister, Eve Selis, posted on her Facebook page as a statement. "On behalf of our family, we are so sorry that this happened."
Pete Selis, 49, began firing into a crowd celebrating a friend’s birthday at the pool of the La Jolla Crossroads apartment complex in University City Sunday afternoon.
Monique Clark, 35, was fatally injured in the shooting. Seven others were injured in the shooting, some critically, police said. Another person was shot at, but not hurt.
In the statement, the family said they could not fathom what may have prompted the shooting.
"Our family feels the unbearable pain caused by Pete's senseless acts," Eve wrote in the statement. "We cannot understand what would have caused Pete to do this."
In the statement, the family asked everyone to respect their privacy.
"We will miss our beloved Peter forever,” Eve wrote.
Meanwhile, victims and witnesses of the shooting addressed the media on Tuesday, saying they believe the shooting was, in some part, racially motivated, despite San Diego Police Department detectives' conclusions.
Local
Police say they have yet to uncover any evidence that would qualify the shooting as a hate crime or suggest that it was racially charged.
According to investigators, Selis had recently broken up with his girlfriend and called her while he was sitting on a poolside lounge chair in between firing shots. He was despondent over a recent break up, police determined.
A friend of Selis told NBC 7 that Pete was a wonderful father, but had issues he was dealing with.
"He had a problem with depression his whole life and when the alcohol took over, he would just lose it as far as himself. But he would never hurt anyone else," said a woman who only identified herself as Sue.
Court documents show Selis, who worked as a mechanic, had more than $100,000 of debt. He filed his second bankruptcy in seven years in October 2015.
