A Glendale firefighter was taken into custody Wednesday after his wife was found possibly bludgeoned to death with an ax at their North Hollywood home, according to authorities.
Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Guy Golan confirmed that a man flagged down officers near the Northeast Station in Glassell Park and asked them to conduct a welfare check on his wife.
The man, in his 40s, was an off-duty firefighter with the Glendale City Fire Department, sources told FOX11.
The off-duty firefighter flagged down police in the North Hollywood neighborhood and told them he’d had an argument with his wife. Cops found a woman, believed to be in her 40s, dead in the home, the report said. FoxCops arrived at his home in an apartment complex on Satsuma Avenue in North Hollywood and found his wife, believed to be in her 50s, dead in a gruesome, bloody scene, the outlet reported.
Investigators believe the woman, who was not breathing when cops arrived, was bludgeoned to death after being repeatedly struck with an ax, the report said.
The weapon was found at the scene, FOX11 said.
Authorities think the victim was allegedly murdered between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
Her husband was taken in for questioning and allegedly confessed to the gory slaying, according to FOX11.
He was subsequently arrested. Police had not publicly released his name or announced charges against him later Wednesday.
Golan said that the Glendale Fire Department has been notified that an off-duty member of the department was detained in connection with an active homicide investigation.
“The Glendale Fire Department has been notified by the Los Angeles Police Department that an off-duty member of the department has been detained in connection with an active homicide investigation in the North Hollywood area,” Domenica Megerdichian, an assistant to the Glendale City Manager, said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.
“LAPD is the lead investigating agency, and the matter is ongoing.”
A woman, possibly a relative, sat distraught on the sidewalk outside the home later Wednesday morning, as shown in a photograph obtained by The Post.
Several family members, including the victim’s brother, according to sources, were seen at the scene moments before a CSI crew entered the apartment.
Camille Cabrera, 62, who lives just steps from the crime scene, shared her account with The Post in the hours following the murder.
“I know he was a Glendale firefighter and they had gotten into an argument, but he was unsure if he had killed her, so he had LAPD do a welfare check,” she said.
