Murder Suspect Arrested After Barricade

Carson - A homicide investigation was under way this morning after a man allegedly stabbed to death two women and wounded a man inside a Carson-area condominium that all four shared.

The suspect, Virgil Tyrone Tate, 30, was arrested by deputies from the sheriff's SWAT team and booked at the sheriff's Carson station on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. His bail was set at $1 million.

Deputies were called to the complex in the 21800 block of South Vermont Avenue in an unincorporated area near Harbor-UCLA Medical Center at 8:23 p.m. Sunday, said sheriff's homicide Lt. Holly Francisco, who is heading the investigation.

"The wounded man came running out as deputies arrived and gave them information about where the suspect was," Francisco said. The man did not know whether the women were dead, so deputies immediately entered the residence.

"The first deputies found one female victim dead with several stab wounds and the suspect locked in a back bedroom," she said. That first victim
was 32 years old.

The suspect had put large items behind the bedroom door to block entry, so deputies called in the SWAT team, Francisco said.

SWAT deputies burst into the back bedroom around 9 p.m. Sunday and found a 58-year-old woman dead with multiple stab wounds, she said, adding that the suspect was naked and taken into custody without incident.

The wounded man, who is 36, had several stab wounds and was transported to a hospital with stable vital signs, Francisco said.

What prompted the violence was not immediately determined. And, while investigators know the suspect and victims all lived in the condominium, "we are not sure about their relationship," Francisco said.

Authorities also did not immediately comment on reports the two dead women were mother and daughter.