Woman shoots apartment manager and then kills herself in Northridge; three area schools locked down

A woman shot the manager of her Northridge apartment complex Friday morning before barricading herself in the building, prompting Los Angeles police SWAT officers to respond while three area schools locked down, according to police.

The victim, who has not been identified, was sitting in a Green Hyundai in the parking lot of the apartment complex in the 17000 block of Plummer Street when she was shot about 11:25 a.m., police said. She was struck in the neck and taken to a hospital.

Police identified the suspect as 74-year-old Anita Young, who is believed to be a resident of the complex. Police said the suspect shot and killed herself inside the building.

Three schools — Oliver Wendell Holmes International Middle School, Dearborn Elementary Charter Academy and Highland Hall Waldorf School — remained locked down as of Friday afternoon, police said.

Young allegedly has a history of violence at the apartment building, according to court papers.

Her neighbor, Sean Robert Lackey, who was also the landlord, filed a petition for a restraining order against Young in 2022, claiming that the tenant was frequently verbally abusive and sometimes violent.

In August 2022, Lackey alleged that Young attacked another elderly neighbor with a glass bottle, attempting to strike him in the head with it.

Lackey said he was afraid to speak with Young, who had once spit on him, he wrote.

“I am afraid for my safety,” he wrote in the filing.

The application for the restraining order was denied by a judge.

Lackey declined to comment to The Times on Friday afternoon.