A California man camping with his two young daughters was shot and killed last week in front of the children, investigators said.
Tristan Beaudette, 35, of Irvine, was found dead inside his tent shortly before 5 a.m. Friday morning at Malibu Creek State Park. The Los Angeles Times reported that Beaudette was shot at least once in the upper torso and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Beaudette's daughters, ages 4 and 2, were not injured in the shooting, the Times reported.
"The theory we are working with is he was shot inside the tent. The children were inside the tent, too," Lt. Rodney Moore, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, told the newspaper. "We are working this as a homicide at this point. We are gathering evidence. It will take some time."
A GoFundMe page set up for Beaudette's family, which raised nearly triple the $25,000 goal in just one day, described him as an amazing father, husband, son and brother.
"Tristan was out doing something he adored in life, being in the outdoors with his two young girls," the fundraising page read. "His wife, Erica, was preparing to take an exam the next morning. This was their final step before taking well-deserved time off together as a family prior to their relocation to new jobs in the Bay Area.
“They were about to embark on a new chapter in their lives. And then it was all taken away by a fatal gunshot in the middle of the night, in front of his two young daughters. Not a second goes by that we aren’t grappling with the senselessness of this crime.”
Beaudette was a scientist at a pharmaceutical company, according to CBS Los Angeles. His wife, Erica Wu, is a doctor.
The family told the Times in a statement that Beaudette loved cooking and microbrews. He and Wu were high school sweethearts.
"His selfless devotion to his children came naturally, and Tristan found true joy in all aspects of being a father," the statement read. "The grief and trauma this loss has caused our close-knit family is indescribable."
Tony Hoffman, superintendent of Malibu Creek State Park, told KTLA in Los Angeles that the shooting took place in an area of the park with more than 60 campsites, most of which were likely occupied when Tristan Beaudette was killed. Fellow campers told CBS Los Angeles that the area is usually a peaceful one.
"It's pretty secluded," one camper told the news station. "It's pretty spread out. It's pretty quiet. I wouldn't expect something (like the shooting) to happen."
Moore told the Times Sunday that investigators continued to work through evidence from the scene in an effort to identify Beaudette's killer.
Malibu Creek State Park is located in Calabasas, about 25 miles from downtown Los Angeles. According to the park's website, it served as the backdrop to a number of movies and television shows, including "Planet of the Apes" and "M*A*S*H," before being opened to the public in 1976.
About the Author
