Coroner identifies father, two sons killed in south Sacramento home invasion robbery

Sacramento County Coroner’s officials have released the name of a father and his two sons who were shot to death in what sheriff’s officials say was a home invasion robbery.

They were identified as Thanh Le, 56, and his sons Dong Le, 32, and Tien Le, 21.

A spokesman for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department reported that the shooting occurred Thursday morning in the 8700 block of Ardith Drive, near Elk Grove Florin Road and Calvine Road.

Sheriff’s deputies were called to the residence about 6:30 a.m. Thursday. They found the three men suffering from gunshot wounds. Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District personnel responded, and all three victims were pronounced dead at the scene. Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Tony Turnbull said there were others in the home at the time of the shooting and they were uninjured.

The initial investigation was slowed by a language barrier until Vietnamese-speaking officers arrived at the scene.

Sheriff’s officials said two or three people, wearing dark clothing and masks, forced their way into the residence. After the shooting, the intruders fled in what was described as a dark-colored compact vehicle.

About 11,000 people live in the Countryside area surrounding the site of the homicide, census figures show. The Countryside area has a large Vietnamese population. About 1,500, or close to one in seven, of its residents are of Vietnamese or Hmong ancestry, census figures show.

Detectives ask anyone with information pertaining to the case to call the Sheriff’s Department at 916-874-5115 or Crime Alert at 916-443-4357. Tip information also may be left anonymously at the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department’s website, www.sacsheriff.com, by texting 274637 and entering the keyword “SSD,” or by calling 916-874-8477.

This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 2:53 PM with the headline "Coroner identifies father, two sons killed in south Sacramento home invasion robbery."