It's still unknown what prompted Sylvia Jean Junn to allegedly shoot her husband and another woman and then turn the gun on herself in a Gwinnett County parking lot. And the one person who might have the answers was clinging to life late Wednesday.
Junn was an immigration attorney who ran her own practice in Gwinnett. Her husband, a former adjunct college professor, was the firm's executive director. The two owned a home in nearby north Fulton County.
But Tuesday evening, Junn apparently snapped. The 44-year-old allegedly shot her husband, Charles Junn, and an unnamed woman outside their Duluth-area company.
The two victims fell to the ground, just yards away from the busy intersection of Satellite and Steve Reynolds boulevards, and the gunshots prompted calls to 911. Meanwhile, Sylvia Junn got in her Lexus sedan and drove away, running over the man.
Gwinnett officers arrived at the office complex within seconds, Cpl. Jake Smith said. But before they could help the two victims, there would be a third.
Sylvia Junn returned to the parking lot and exited her car. Standing near the two victims with a gun in her hand, she ignored commands from police to drop the weapon, Smith said. She shot herself in the head, leaving both Junns dead on the ground.
Police declined Wednesday to release the name of the other woman shot and in critical condition at an Atlanta hospital. But the 51-year-old woman, who apparently also worked in the law office, may be the key to explaining the events.
"The investigation revealed that Charles Junn and the female victim likely had an affair in the past," Smith said in a news release Wednesday.
Although the incidents were not connected, the murder-suicide was the second in less than two months affecting the Korean community in Gwinnett County. In February, five members of a Korean family died in a shooting inside the Norcross spa they owned.
The shootings add to the deadly year in Gwinnett, which has seen 18 homicides -- more than halfway to last year's total of 28. If the pace continues, the county could eclipse the 2007 homicide record of 50. There were only five homicides at this time last year.
Like the victims in the Norcross spa shootings, the Junns were active in the community: The 45-year-old Charles Junn served as executive vice president of the Georgia Korean-American Chamber of Commerce, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Sylvia Junn, who spoke Spanish in addition to English and Korean and had Korean and Hispanic clients, was known as a competent attorney, a former colleague told the AJC.
The couple, parents of 16-year-old son, moved to the area about five years ago from California, where most of their relatives still live, address records show.
Both Junns attended the University of California at Davis, where Sylvia Junn completed her law degree in 2002. Charles Junn served as an adjunct professor at Golden Gate University, where he received an award in 2007 as outstanding faculty member.
Investigators declined to release additional details about the case Wednesday. It was unclear whether the shooting victim would survive her injuries, according to police.
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