The 62-year-old federal security officer accused of shooting his estranged wife to death as she waited for her two daughters in the parking lot of their suburban Washington, D.C. high school had threatened suicide by cop, according to police.
Eulalio Tordil has been connected to two other deadly parking lot shootings the next morning. As investigators worked to figure out if the same weapon used to kill Gladys Tordil, 44, was used in Friday morning's mall and shopping center shootings, more information about Tordil began to emerge.
A protective order was filed against Tordil in March, affecting his job. Gladys Tordil accused her husband of physical abuse, using a military-like discipline with her daughters, sexually abusing two minors and forcing minors to watch pornography.
Tordil was placed on administrative leave and forced to surrender his government-issued weapons, badge and credentials. It was at that point, according to police, Tordil told them he wanted to commit suicide by cop.
Tordil's work as a security administrator for Homeland Security began in 2004, according to the website FederalPay.org. He moved from the D.C. area to Arizon from 2006 – 2012, then worked in Nevada before returning to his current job in 2014.
Officials say Tordil supervised contract employees who handle security at the entrances of federal facilities. He was at the top pay grade for that position, GS-12, making a base salary of $90,744.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
The Adelphi man's most recent address is the 1800 block of Metzerott Road.
Thursday afernoon, police say Tordil followed his estranged wife to High Point High School in Beltsville, MD. She was there to pick up her daughters who are both seniors. Tordil first shot and wounded a man who tried to intervene, and then shot Gladys multiple times, police say.
Tordil fled the scene, evading police until after Friday's two fatal shootings at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, MD and Aspen Hill shopping center about 10 miles away.
A plainclothes police officer spotted Tordil around 1:40 p.m. walking into a Dunkin Donuts at the Northgate shopping center -- directly across the street from Aspen Hill shopping center. Tordil walked from store to store. Police hung back, watching, for an hour.
"Knowing his behavior today, knowing of statements he made in the past, we did not want to endanger anyone and have a shootout when we took him into custody and that's why he was taken into custody the way he was," Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger said.
When Tordil got back to his car, police surrounded it and pinned him down, bringing a peaceful end to a strategy they described as tense, but tactical.
