Shooting at Progressive Home for the Elderly in South LA: What Families Should Know

Shortly before 11 a.m. on Monday, September 21, 2026, gunfire broke out in the lobby of Progressive Home for the Elderly, a senior residence in the 7000 block of Denver Avenue near 70th Street in South Los Angeles. Three staff members were wounded, one of them critically. A maintenance worker was arrested inside the building and has since been charged with three counts of attempted murder. Police said no residents were hurt.

Our thoughts are with the injured employees, their families, and the residents and staff who lived through a frightening day. Nothing reported so far suggests the residence did anything wrong. But when violence happens inside the place where an older adult lives, families have questions that deserve direct answers, and it helps to know which rules apply. This page explains what has been reported, what the law expects from the people who run a senior residence, and what to ask the operator now.

What has been reported

• The shooting was reported at about 10:50 a.m. in the building's lobby. Officers arrived within about two minutes, searched the six-story building, and took the suspect into custody on another floor without firing a shot.
• The three people shot are employees: a man in his 60s and two women, one in her 40s and one in her 70s. One was listed in critical condition and two in stable condition. News outlets have removed the employees' names, and so do we.
• Police identified the suspect as Darryl Arnette Barnes, 60, a maintenance worker at the building. On September 23, prosecutors charged him with three counts of attempted murder, alleging the shootings were willful, deliberate and premeditated. He pleaded not guilty, is being held on $4 million bail, and is due back in court on October 7, 2026. A criminal charge is an accusation, and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
• KTLA has published surveillance video of the attack. Police have not released a motive.
• Police said no residents were injured. MyNewsLA reported that residents were checked for injuries and the building resumed normal operations, although residents were described as traumatized.
• Patch reported that the building is a 141-unit senior housing development under the federal HUD Section 202 program, home to about 100 older adults. Many outlets called it an assisted-living facility. We explain below why that distinction matters.

This page reflects reporting through September 26, 2026, and we will update it as the case moves forward. Sources: ABC7 Eyewitness News, NBC Los Angeles, KTLA, MyNewsLA and Patch.

Why an incident like this matters for residents, not only staff

Even when no resident is physically hurt, a shooting in the lobby changes the day-to-day reality of everyone who lives there. Residents with limited mobility, dementia, or serious medical needs depend on staff to keep entrances controlled, to account for every person during a lockdown and a police search, and to keep meals, medications, and personal care on schedule while the building recovers. With three employees out of work and recovering, families should ask who is covering their duties and how those people were screened.

Families also tend to ask a harder question in the days that follow: were there warning signs? That question is fair, and it is not an accusation. It is the same question a licensing agency or an insurer will ask.

Licensed care or senior housing? Why the label matters

In California, "assisted living" is a licensed category. Residential care facilities for the elderly are licensed and inspected by the California Department of Social Services through its Community Care Licensing Division. Skilled nursing facilities are licensed by the California Department of Public Health. Licensed facilities must obtain criminal background clearances for the people who work with residents, report serious incidents to their licensing agency, and maintain emergency plans.

Independent senior apartments, including buildings supported by federal housing programs such as HUD Section 202, are housing rather than licensed care. The operator's obligations come from landlord-tenant law, premises liability, and fair housing rules. If aides or home health workers serve residents inside such a building, those workers are usually employed by outside agencies that carry their own licenses and background-check duties.

You can check in minutes which category applies to a residence. Search the name or address in the California Department of Social Services Care Facility Search, which shows license status, capacity, inspection visits, citations, and complaints for licensed residential care. For nursing homes, use the Department of Public Health's Cal Health Find. If a residence does not appear in either database, it is most likely housing rather than licensed care, and the promises in its lease and marketing materials become the measure of what it owes residents.

What the law expects from the people who run a senior residence

• A reasonably safe building. Every property owner and operator in California owes residents and visitors a duty to keep the premises reasonably safe, including reasonable security measures when the operator knows or should know of a risk.
• Careful hiring and supervision. An employer can be held responsible for harm caused by an employee when it knew, or should have known, that the person was unfit for the job and kept them in it anyway. Whether that applies to any incident depends entirely on what the employer knew and when.
• Protection from health and safety hazards. For licensed care facilities, California's Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act defines neglect to include a care custodian's failure to protect an elder from health and safety hazards. That is one of the reasons the licensing question above matters so much.
• Honest, timely communication. Licensed facilities must notify their licensing agency of serious incidents, and residents' representatives are entitled to know what happened. Even where no statute requires it, an operator that will not tell families plainly what happened is telling them something.

Questions to ask the operator now

1. Was my loved one accounted for during the incident and the police search, and by whom?
2. How is the building secured now, and what has changed at the entrances since September 21?
3. Who is covering the duties of the injured employees, and how were those workers screened?
4. What incident report was filed, and with which agencies?
5. Will you put those answers in writing?

Keep a simple log: who you spoke with, when, and what they said. Photograph any notices posted in the building, and keep every letter or email you receive.

If your loved one was hurt, frightened, or left without care

Watch for new injuries, missed medications or meals, a sudden change in mood or sleep, or floors left without staff. Get a medical evaluation for any physical complaint and ask the provider to document it. Then report what you found:

• Licensed residential care: the California Department of Social Services complaint line, 1-844-538-8766.
• Any long-term care setting: the Long-Term Care Ombudsman CRISISline, 1-800-231-4024, answered 24 hours a day.
• Suspected abuse or neglect of an older adult in Los Angeles County: Adult Protective Services, 1-877-477-3646, answered 24 hours a day.
• Any emergency: 911.

How Justice 4 Elders can help

Justice 4 Elders represents residents and families when a senior residence fails to keep a loved one safe. If someone you love lives at a residence where violence, neglect, or abuse has occurred, we will review what happened at no cost, explain which rules apply to that setting, and tell you honestly whether there is a case. Call (866) 654-4857 or send us a message through this page. There is no fee unless we win.

Related reading: Assisted living abuse, Signs of nursing home abuse: a complete guide for families, and What to do if you suspect elder abuse.

Attorney advertising. This article is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Facts about the September 21 incident come from the news reports linked above and may change as the case continues.