An elderly man deemed unfit to handle his affairs without the help of a court-appointed guardian shot and killed one of his caregivers Tuesday at a University Place adult family home, authorities said.

Relatives said the victim was a Filipino immigrant and father of five who was “living the American dream.”

Siegfried Malang, the victim’s brother-in-law, said the 38-year-old man had moved his family north from the Los Angeles area after immigrating from the Philippines because he thought Washington state would be a better place to raise his children, who range in age from 3 to 15.

“I can’t believe this happened here,” Malang said.

He described his brother-in-law as a loving father and husband and generous relative who opened his home to him when he hurt himself and lost his job. The man worked at the adult family home, which is run by his wife’s parents, and also as a medical technician, Malang said.

The victim was planning a trip back to the Philippines in November to visit his mother’s grave and attend a family reunion, Malang said. He often picked up his kids from school and took them home, he said.

“He was a good man,” Malang said.

The victim was hit once in the torso during Tuesday’s shooting, investigators said. He died at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma. The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office did not release his name.

Investigators said they weren’t sure how the 91-year-old man suspected in the killing got the gun – which was registered in his name – into Total Care AFH or why he shot the caregiver, who was delivering him some grapes.

The suspected gunman declined to speak to detectives, said Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer. The suspect was booked into the Pierce County Jail for investigation of first-degree murder and was to appear today in Superior Court for arraignment.The News Tribune isn’t naming the man because he hasn’t been charged with a crime.

A former neighbor in Maple Valley said the man was a bit eccentric, driving a Cadillac with bull’s horns attached to the grille. He also had been known to step outside his door and fire a gun into the air for apparently no reason, Pat Heupel said.

“He was a bit of a loner,” Heupel said. “He wasn’t all that friendly.”

The alleged gunman and the caregiver reportedly had a good relationship. “The victim got along with him better than most others,” Troyer said.

Total Care AFH is a state-licensed adult family home in a quiet neighborhood in the 5800 block of 62nd Street West. The owners, Pedro Malang Jr. and Marietta Malang, are licensed to house six elderly residents in need of intensive assistance but were housing five – including the suspect.

The victim worked part time at Total Care. Tuesday was his day off, but he stopped by to say hello to his mother-in-law about 10:30 a.m., Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said.

At one point during the visit, the caregiver decided to check on the 91-year-old man, who was in his room, authorities said.

“He was bringing him grapes, which is our suspect’s favorite,” Troyer said.

For reasons not yet known to investigators, the man fired one shot and struck the victim, Fulghum said. No one reported hearing the men arguing before the shooting, but there were reports that the man had been asking to go to the doctor Tuesday, authorities said.

The victim’s mother-in-law heard the shot and ran down the hallway to the suspect’s room, where she found the two men entangled, Fulghum said. It wasn’t clear if they’d struggled or if the victim fell onto the man after being shot, he said.

The suspect has been a patient at the adult home since December and leaves the home only when accompanied by a caregiver, Fulghum said. “He doesn’t go out by himself,” he said.

A King County judge last year appointed Schmidt Family Services of Tacoma to help the alleged gunman manage his affairs. The firm’s owner, Laura Schmidt, declined to comment when reached by The News Tribune.

Schmidt Family Services arranged the sale of the man’s Maple Valley home earlier this year, according to court documents. He was listed as incapacitated in the sale notice.

Residents of state-licensed adult family homes are allowed to own guns if they pass an assessment test showing they’re mentally and physically capable of using them safely, said Elaine Odom, regional administrator for Residential Care Services, the state agency that regulates such homes.

But their guns are required to be locked away while stored inside the home, Odom said.

In this case those safeguards apparently were moot.

The owners Total Care AFH didn’t know the 91-year-old man possessed a weapon, said Pierce County sheriff’s detective Lynelle Anderson.

Stacey Mulick: 253-597-8268

Adam Lynn: 253-597-8644

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