In a quiet Rancho Cordova neighborhood, the morning of January 27, 2026, was shattered by the sounds of gunfire and screaming, leading to a tragic discovery inside a home on Mill Water Circle. Responding to the disturbance, Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies found a devastating scene where four members of a family, including 13-year-old Colton Drake Peralta Vallerga, lay dead from apparent gunshot wounds in what was determined to be a murder-suicide. The male teenager's life, along with those of his 11-year-old sister, Sydney Peralta Vallerga, and his 49-year-old mother, Lindsey Burger, were taken before his father, 58-year-old David Edward Vallerga Jr., took his own life.
The series of events began to unfold around 8:30 a.m. when a neighbor reported hearing gunshots. Shortly after, a chilling 911 call was received from a man who identified himself as the shooter. The caller, later identified as David Vallerga, a man with prior military service, ominously informed the dispatcher that he had also set booby traps within the residence. This threat prompted an immediate and extensive law enforcement response, including the evacuation of nearby homes and the deployment of a SWAT team and armored vehicles to establish a secure perimeter around the house.
After hours of attempting to make contact with anyone inside the home, deputies utilized a specialized armored vehicle to breach a back fence and deployed a drone to assess the interior. The drone's surveillance revealed an unresponsive male, later identified as David Vallerga, with a pistol in his hand. Upon entering the home, law enforcement officers discovered the bodies of Vallerga, his wife, and their two children. A subsequent search by the Sheriff's Explosive Ordnance Disposal team confirmed that no explosive devices were present in the home, despite the earlier threat. Investigators recovered multiple firearms from the residence, including a second handgun found beneath David Vallerga's body, and determined that he was the sole perpetrator of the killings. While the investigation remains active, a motive for the tragedy has not been determined. In the wake of the incident, friends and community members remembered Colton as an inquisitive and academically curious boy with a passion for science and astronomy.
