There was not a single misstep or a single failure that led to the tragedy that will haunt Frank Perez forever.
But when she discovered that her son – her beloved, yet abused son, who struggled with severe mental illness – shot her beloved 11-year-old grandson before turning the gun on himself. At a Nevada airport earlier this monthPerez couldn’t help but think about all the missed opportunities before that fateful shooting.
“We were screaming for help,” Perez said. “We tried to get him help.”
Over the years, and even more urgently in recent months, Perez said her family has tried to better protect 11-year-old Callen and get her father, 37-year-old Giovanni Perez, the help he needed. But at every turn, the senior Perez said he felt like he faced obstacles in the complex mental health and family court systems.
“I was always afraid something like this would happen,” Perez said. But he said he couldn’t solely blame his son, who was hospitalized several times after returning from military deployment, suffering from PTSD.
Instead, Perez sees a web of failed systems: narrow services for military veterans, limited mental health treatment options, inadequate gun restrictions and not enough protections for children living with unstable parents.
Giovanni Perez and son Callan. Authorities say the pair died in a murder-suicide at a Nevada airport on April 13.
(Frank Perez)
“He loved Callen,” Perez said of his son. “He’s just going to have to have these bouts of mental illness, and unfortunately, this time he won. … He’s going to have psychotic episodes and see things, and I believe that’s what happened that day. It wasn’t him who did it.”
Local police investigating the April 13 shooting in Elko, Nev., have not determined a motive, but did note that Giovanni Perez had a history of PTSD and was in a “custody dispute” with his son’s grandparents, according to a Update from the Elko Police Department. Frank Perez said he and his wife were working with Callan’s maternal grandmother to get custody of the boy, but the court placed him in the sole custody of his father.
A news release from the department said officers responded to Elko Regional Airport following a report of an active shooter, where they found Giovanni Perez dead near the ticket counter and his son seriously injured inside an airport restroom.
First responders took Callan to a local hospital, but he was soon pronounced dead.
Police said the father and son were traveling through Nevada in a rental vehicle when it became disabled and they were taken to the airport to pick up a new rental. While at the airport, the pair went to the toilet, passed out and then came back together. That’s when Perez shot his son multiple times, police said. After this the veteran came out of the toilet and shot himself near the ticket counter.
The shooting has sent shock waves through communities from Utah — where the father and son lived for a short time in recent months — to Northern California, where the Perez family has lived for decades, including where Giovanni and Callen have lived for most of their lives.
“This is an unimaginable tragedy and our prayers and condolences are with the family,” the Merced City School District, where Callen was previously enrolled, shared in a statement.
Although Frank Perez’s worst fears were realized with the shooting, he said that, just before it happened, the family was hopeful that Giovanni was on the way to betterment.
He said the pair were on the road as they were reunited with family and headed back to the Merced area. Frank Perez said, months earlier, Giovanni had driven him away and cut off contact. Callen’s school and family reported him missing sometime last year.
As Giovanni’s mental condition has become less stable in recent years, Frank Perez said he and his extended family tried several avenues to get more help for their son and grandson.
An attempt was made by the grandparents to regain custody, but a judge ruled against them late last year. She said that when her son bought the gun she tried to alert law enforcement — highway patrol officers, sheriff’s deputies, anyone who would listen — but they were told it was purchased legally, so authorities couldn’t intervene. The family also tried to get Giovanni more regular psychiatric care, particularly through Veterans Affairs, but they said their son only successfully received disability compensation for his diagnosis.
“We couldn’t force him to get care, we couldn’t force him to take medications,” Perez said. She said her son had been diagnosed with PTSD with bipolar tendencies, and he was afraid to take medications because of his psychosis.
Giovanni Perez served for nearly four years in and around Iraq, his father said, and although he was trained as a cook, he was exposed to many combat scenarios that left him afraid.
“When he came back, he was changed,” Perez said. “He wasn’t the bright-eyed 19-year-old I remember.”
Nevertheless, Perez said that his son’s mental health was stable, while he was a devoted father of three children. Callan was the only one of his sons of whom he had sole custody.
He most recently worked as a truck driver and enjoyed making music; His father called him an “extraordinary lyricist”.
Callen was a smart, happy-go-lucky child who respected his father and was very close to his younger brother. Frank Pérez said, he was a big 49ers fan who dreamed of playing professional football.
on one GoFundMe page Funded by Callan’s maternal grandmother for memorial and legal expenses, the family described the boy as “incredibly smart, funny and kind.”
“He had the biggest heart and the sweetest soul,” said the man raising funds for the family. His grandmother declined to speak further to The Times, saying it was too early.
But the GoFundMe noted her plan for a “legal fight… to seek justice in (Callen’s) name, against the system that failed her, and to give a voice to other children who are not being protected.”
Frank Perez said he would like to see changes in the family court system, because he feels his serious concerns about his son have been too easily ignored.
“When a grandparent or parent of a loved one raises this level of concern, I think there should be more (intervention) to ensure the safety of the child,” Perez said.
But he also wishes Veterans Affairs had provided more services, the mental health system had given the family more opportunities to intervene and that law enforcement had listened to him when he warned him about his son’s gun.
“If they want these little kids to fight for our country, they have to be ready to help them when they come back,” Pérez said. “There is a lack of accountability.”
But for now, he is trying to remember the good moments spent with his family. birthday parties. football game. Outdoor adventures.
Just last summer, Callan won third place Among fourth grade students entering Merced County’s “Father of the Year” essay contest. It is still difficult for Frank Perez to understand that his son took both his grandson’s and his own lives so violently.
“They were best friends,” Perez said of Callen and his father. “He loved Callen, Callen loved him.”
