Alzheimer’s Researcher, Daughter Shot To Death Two Killed Outside Home In San Diego; Motive Unknown

A prominent Alzheimer’s disease researcher and his 13-year-old daughter were shot to death outside their home, and police said Thursday they had little evidence and no witnesses.

Tsunao Saitoh, 46, was found slumped in his dark blue BMW about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday by two young men who were riding their skateboards in the area. His car - with its door wide open - was stopped in the middle of the street.

Police found Loullie Saitoh lying on the driveway about 20 feet away. Both victims had been shot several times with a small-caliber handgun and died at the scene, homicide Lt. Glenn Breitenstein said.

“We have limited information to work on,” Breitenstein said Thursday. “It is a complete mystery, and the motive is still unknown, which makes this case even more difficult.”

Even though police have not yet established a motive, the shooting was big news in Japan. Media there were reporting the Saitoh and the girl were the latest Japanese victims of gun violence in the United States.

National broadcaster NHK included annual gun death statistics and showed a map of the United States with red “X” marks over New York, Louisiana, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego, representing the Japanese citizens shot near or in these cities since 1982.

Saitoh, a Japanese citizen with permanent resident status in the United States, was an associate professor of neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego.