Tustin is nestled next to Santa Ana, the county seat of Orange County. Tustin currently has a population of about 85,000 residents. Routinely, Tustin is listed among the top 10 communities in the country for start-ups. It also has a significant percentage of the population classified as entrepreneurs. Indeed, Tustin oftentimes ends up on top 10 lists associated with entrepreneurship as well.

Nearly half the population of Tustin are families with children under the age of 18. Low crime rates and good schools account for the large percentage of the Tustin population that are growing families.

Although life is normally relatively placid in Tustin, a pair of events caused upheaval throughout the community for an extended period of time. One of these events was the brutal slaying of the owner of a local mixed martial arts studio. The other was what commonly is referred to as “suicide by cop.”

Tustin Mixed Martial Arts Studio Owner Gunned Down

A popular Tustin resident and the business owner was Fahness Lutalo. He was the owner and operator of the OC Boxing & MMA Academy, located on Newport Avenue in Tustin. Lutalo was murdered by a man who was identified as being one of his former students.

Lutalo was killed at his Academy. He was gunned down, the specific motive behind the crime not fully known.

This incident is fairly typical of the types of violent crimes that do occur from time to time in Tustin. In the aftermath of the murder, the victim’s family bore responsibility for the cleanup at the business. Because of the nature of the killing, the scene was contaminated by blood and other bodily fluids.

In this type of situation, surviving family members only enhance their own grief if they take on the biological cleanup process in Tustin on their own. In addition, cleaning up after the murder of a person can expose those undertaking the task to the potential for being infected by dangerous pathogens. The types of pathogens that can be found in the blood include HIV, MRSA, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.

Suicide by Cop Ends Life of Former Military Serviceman

In addition to homicides that occur once in a while in Tustin, the suicide rate in the community is comparable to that of Southern California more generally. One of the most horrific types of suicides is what has been given the moniker of “suicide by cop.” Suicide by cop occurred in Tustin involving a former Afghan war veteran.

The vet was a 25-year old man who suffered from PTSD. The downward slide resulted in the man having in a standoff with the Tustin Police started when he received word he had failed out of a college program. He ended up going to the campus at which he was removed from the education program because of failing grades. He took a gun to campus. The standoff lasted for hours.

The man ultimately pulled his gun and prepared to open fire on the police. The police took a proactive stance and shot the man. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was declared dead upon arrival. Ultimately, the investigation of the situation resulted in a determination this was, in fact, a case of suicide by cop.

The man was in his vehicle at the time he was shot by police. Thus, his family ended up bearing responsibility for dealing with the aftermath of the shooting that took the man’s life.

As was the case with the murder of the mixed martial arts academy owner, the recommendation in this type of situation is to engage the services of a biohazard cleanup in Tustin professional. By engaging the services of this type of professional, surviving family members, or other individuals potentially responsible for the cleanup, avoid further aggravating their emotional state by undertaking such a challenging cleanup on their own.

Tustin Grief Therapists: Individual and Group Therapy for Those Who Suffered a Traumatic Loss

There are Tustin grief therapists and counselors that provide services to people who’ve suffered some sort of traumatic loss.  These types of losses include:

  • Homicides
  • Suicides
  • Sudden deaths
  • Unattended deaths

These grief therapists assist people in individual and group therapy settings. They will schedule an initial consultation to discuss treatment and therapeutic options. As a matter of practice, these Tustin grief therapists do not charge a fee for an initial consultation with a prospective client. These Tustin professionals include:

Prepare to Change
222 West Main Street, Suite 101
Tustin, California 92780
(657) 245-4071

Connections With the Heart
228 West Main Street
Tustin, California 92780
(949) 272-0624

Su Abhyankar, LCSW
505 West 1st
Tustin, California 92780
(949) 478-0192

Photo Courtesy of Antti T. Nissinen.

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