UPDATE: Mission Viejo couple were killed at hotel

A Mission Viejo couple, Joni Park, 48, and Kevin Park, 49, were identified Monday as the victims of a police officer-involved shooting that stunned guests at the ocean-view Montage Resort & Spa hotel early April 22, as a murky picture began to emerge of the how the incident took shape.

The wife had registered the couple, who were both reportedly in the real estate business, under false names and a false address, said Sgt. Jason Kravetz of the Laguna Beach Police Department. They paid in cash for the $2,200 bungalow room, registering after 11 p.m. Saturday, April 21, Kravetz said.

After the shooting, boxes of documents were found in the couple’s hotel room, Kravetz said. Kravetz could not comment on the nature of the documents, which are being pored over by investigators.

“We don’t know the motive at this point, but it’s possible they were hiding from someone,” Kravetz said. “It’s strange. The boxes of papers may answer these questions.”

At some point in the early morning hours, guests began to complain of a possible domestic dispute in the Parks’ hotel room. Later, Joni Park was reported running around the hotel grounds and nearby Treasure Island park grounds, naked and armed.

Kravetz alleged that Joni Park pointed a gun at and threatened to shoot several hotel guests and visitors to the hotel’s adjacent park, prompting hotel security to summon police. Five officers responded.

What initially appeared to be a domestic dispute took another turn when Joni Park ran back into the hotel room as officers approached, with their guns drawn and holding a ballistic shield, Kravetz said.

“The officers could see her pointing a gun at them through the window,” Kravetz alleged.

At that point, Kevin Park appeared to wrest the gun away from his wife, and then pointed it at the officers, Kravetz alleged. The gun was later determined to have been loaded, chambered and ready to fire, Kravetz alleged. A bag of ammunition was found in the Parks’ room, he added.

Two officers fired into the hotel room. It is not clear whether the officers’ shots killed the couple, and Kravetz could not answer whether the Parks’ gun was fired. Those questions will be answered by investigators. An autopsy is being conducted on the couple to determine the cause of death.

The two officers who fired their guns, who were not identifieid, are on a three-day administrative leave. Their actions are being investigated by the district attorney’s office.

“Police went to the room and saw her pointing a gun at them,” Kravetz said. “Then the man got the gun and both were threatening police. They fired because a gun was being pointed at them, and there were a lot of citizens and [hotel] guests behind the officers.”

“We feel they acted appropriately,” Kravetz said of the officers. “We always try to deescalate, and firearms are a last resort.” From the officers’ arrival to the 7:55 a.m. shooting, about 15 minutes had passed, he said.

Some four to five 911 calls were received, and those calls are being examined for evidence. Kravetz said, noting that background noise from the cell phone calls of people at the scene may provide more information about what happened.

The District Attorney’s office is investigating the police actions, normal procedure when a Laguna Beach police officer is involved in a shooting.

Kravetz said the couple, who were Caucasian, had children, but could not confirm whether they were at the hotel with their parents.

--Barbara Diamond contributed to this report.