Senior survives shots to head

An elderly woman is expected to survive after her husband shot her in the head multiple times Thursday afternoon at their Eastside Costa Mesa house, authorities said.

Police arrested Kenneth Leake, 75, on suspicion of attempted murder.

He was taken into custody outside his house, near the corner of Orange Avenue and Sierks Street, where he had flagged down police.

His wife, Doris, 72, was breathing and talking to paramedics as they took her to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, authorities said. She was listed in stable condition, said Costa Mesa Sgt. Bryan Glass.

Kenneth Leake is a HAM radio operator who belongs to Mesa Emergency Services Amateur Communications.

Police said they received a call about 12:30 p.m. from a neighbor in the 2000 block of Orange Street reporting that Kenneth Leake was outside his house, screaming.

As officers made their way to the scene, Kenneth Leake also called 911 to report that he had shot his wife, said Sgt. Zack Hoferitza.

Police are not ruling out that the shooting was an attempted murder-suicide.

“I didn’t hear any gunshots. Just moaning and screaming,” said Richard Alonso, who lives next door to the couple. “He was outside, saying: ‘Oh my God, oh my God.’ He seemed upset, like he had lost a family member. Not angry.”

When police arrived, Kenneth Leake was outside waving at them and shouting that his wife inside needed help, Hoferitza said.

Police shut down the intersection of Orange Avenue and Sierks Street and locked down the Westcliff Early Childhood Center across the street.

Neighbors said the Leakes were a quiet couple who kept to themselves, but that Kenneth Leake was friendly.

“He was always easy-going; I never saw them arguing or anything,” said Gary DeMars, who lives across the street from the couple. “He’d help her out of the car, back and forth when they were getting groceries.”

Kenneth Leake is in custody and is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.