Deadly shooting in Salinas sheds light on domestic violence

Trapped, scared, and confused – experts say for some domestic violence victims, that’s how they feel every day. Most of the victims are women.

“It’s recorded that on average it will take a woman six or seven times or sometimes even more to leave their abuser for good,” said Daniel Gonzalez with YWCA of Monterey County.

All too often, Gonzalez sees women unable to escape the cycle of violence. He said it’s a growing problem in Monterey County.

“We’ve been seeing an escalation in calls, we’ve been seeing an escalation in petitions for restraining orders, and we’ve been going to court more,” said Gonzalez.

In 2014, the YWCA handle 1,300 calls to its crisis line, served more than 300 restraining orders and held 2,000 counseling sessions.

“We respond to domestic violence calls daily, multiple times a day,” said Commander Sheldon Bryan with the Salinas Police Department.

In domestic violence situations, police say restraining orders are critical because it gives them something to act upon if the abuser tries to contact the victim.

“We’ve seen some pretty graphic circumstances, major injuries type things,” said Bryan.

That was the case Thursday when a domestic violence incident turned deadly near the social security office in Salinas.

But Gonzalez says it doesn’t have to come to that. “We have a safe house where we provide housing services for over eight weeks. This is free of charge for victims of domestic violence,” said Gonzalez.

The YWCA also provides legal help and counseling so victims aren’t alone.