LA Man Shoots Wife, Family, Himself

AP – This undated photo obtained Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009 from Ervin Antonio Lupoe's Facebook Web page.

No humor here today folks. Just a memorial for a man who had lost all hope in life and shot his wife, his five children, and himself. (AP, "LA Man Upset Over Job Kills Wife, 5 Kids, Himself")

A man fatally shot his wife, five young children and himself Tuesday after he faxed a note to a TV station claiming the couple had just been fired from their hospital jobs and together planned the killings as an escape for the whole family.

"Why leave our children in someone else's hands," Ervin Lupoe wrote in a letter posted late Tuesday on the KABC-TV Web site....

It was the fifth mass death of a Southern California family by murder or suicide in a year. Police urged those facing tough economic times to get help rather than resort to violence.

So why do I write about this terrible killing? Maybe it's because I realize there are things left in this world that can still shock me. Maybe it's because I can't fathom a man so lacking in faith and hope that he would do such a deed. Maybe it's because these suicide killings are becoming more commonplace in our country and I would like to add my voice of pain and anguish for all of us. You see, this man didn't just kill his family, his wife, and himself. In some way, he helped along the death of what's good and uplifting and decent in our country.

Let Ervin and Ana Lupoe teach us something. There is a better way in life. There is faith. There is hope. There is charity. May you and your families be touched by all three.