West Richland, Washington Wednesday, police confirmed that the body was found at the home of a former police officer from Washington state who killed his ex-wife and then fled to Oregon, where he killed himself with a gun and died there was that of a 17-year-old girl with whom he had a child.
Police say 39-year-old Elias Huizar, a former Yakima police officer, shot and killed two people on Monday afternoon, including his ex-wife, 31-year-old Amber Rodriguez, outside of a West Richland elementary school in front of their 9-year-old son and other people who saw the killing. Huizar then ran away. Rodriguez had just recently gotten an order to keep Huizar away from her.
The other victim was found at Huizar’s house on Monday, according to the police. Court records show that Huizar met Angelica M. Santos, 17, when he was a middle school security officer in Yakima several years ago. On Wednesday, they confirmed that she was the victim.
Rodriguez told the court that he got her pregnant when she was 15 years old. Their baby, who is one year old, was found safe and sound Tuesday in the car Huizar was driving when he opened fire on Oregon State Police officers who were chasing him and then killed himself.
In February, Santos and a friend who was 16 years old told the police that Huizar had raped the friend while she was unconscious at his house. Huizar was charged with raping both girls, but he paid bail.
Soon after, Rodriguez wrote in her plea for a protection order that she and Huizar had been divorced for a year and that she didn’t know he was seeing the same teen he had met as a resource officer until he was charged with rape.
It was her fear for the safety of her children that she told them she would be changing their parenting plan. Court papers show that she asked for the change last Friday. The protection order was made in February and was supposed to last for a year. Huizar was not allowed to have guns under the order.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the Yakima Police Department said that Huizar left the force in 2021 “after receiving discipline.” It didn’t give any extra details.
After Huizar was arrested in February, the Richland School District said it fired him. It said that the Yakima School District had praised him before hiring him in 2022 and that he had passed security checks.
