\u201cWe were crying for help,\u201d Perez said. \u201cWe tried to get him help.\u201d<\/p>\n
For years, and more urgently in recent months, Perez said their family had tried to better protect Callan, 11, and get his father, 37-year-old Giovanni Perez, the help he needed. But at every turn, the senior Perez said he felt like they hit roadblocks in complicated mental health and family court systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always feared something would happen like this,\u201d Perez said. But he said he can\u2019t simply blame his son, who had been hospitalized several times since returning from a military deployment, diagnosed with PTSD. <\/p>\n
Instead, Perez sees a web of failed systems: narrow services for military veterans, limited mental health treatment options, insufficient gun restrictions and not enough protections for children living with unstable parents. <\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777045813_601_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Giovanni Perez and son Callan. Authorities say the pair died April 13 in a murder-suicide at a Nevada airport.<\/p>\n
(Frank Perez)<\/p>\n
\u201cHe loved Callan,\u201d Perez said of his son. \u201cHe would just have these bouts of mental illness, and unfortunately, this time it won. … He would have episodes of psychosis and see things, and I believe that\u2019s what happened that day. It wasn\u2019t him who did that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Local police investigating the April 13 shooting in Elko, Nev., haven\u2019t determined a motive but did note that Giovanni Perez had a history of PTSD and had been in a \u201ccustody dispute\u201d with his son\u2019s grandparents, according to an update from the Elko Police Department.<\/a> Frank Perez said he and his wife had been working with Callan\u2019s maternal grandmother to get custody of the boy, but the court had kept him fully in his dad\u2019s custody. <\/p>\n Officers responded to the Elko Regional Airport following reports of an active shooter, where they found Giovanni Perez dead near the ticket counter and his son critically wounded inside the airport\u2019s restroom, a news release from the department said. <\/p>\n First responders took Callan to a local hospital, but he was soon pronounced dead. <\/p>\n The father and son had been traveling in a rental vehicle through Nevada when it became disabled and they were towed to the airport to get a new rental, police said. While at the airport, the pair went into the restroom, exited, and then reentered together. That\u2019s when Perez shot his son several times, police said. The veteran then exited the restroom and fatally shot himself near the ticket counter.<\/p>\n The shooting has sent shock waves through communities from Utah \u2014 where the father and son briefly lived in recent months \u2014 to Northern California, where the Perez family has lived for decades, including Giovanni and Callan for most of their lives. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is an unimaginable tragedy and our prayers and thoughts are with the family,\u201d the Merced City School District, where Callan had been previously enrolled, shared in a statement. <\/p>\n Although Frank Perez\u2019s worst fears were realized with the shooting, he said that, just before it happened, the family had been hopeful Giovanni was making a turn for the better. <\/p>\n He said the pair were on the road because they\u2019d reconnected with family and were driving back to the Merced area. Months before, Giovanni moved them away and cut off contact, Frank Perez said. Callan\u2019s school and the family had at one point last year filed missing persons reports for them. <\/p>\n As Giovanni\u2019s mental state became less stable in recent years, Frank Perez said he and their extended family tried many avenues to get his son and grandson more help. <\/p>\n There was the effort by the grandparents to gain custody, but a judge ruled against them late last year. He said he also tried to warn law enforcement \u2014 highway patrol officers, sheriff\u2019s deputies, anyone who would listen \u2014 when his son bought a firearm, but he was told it was purchased legally, so officers couldn\u2019t intervene. The family also tried to get Giovanni more regular psychiatric care, especially through Veterans Affairs, but he said his son only successfully got disability compensation for his diagnosis.<\/p>\n \u201cWe couldn\u2019t force him to get care, we couldn\u2019t force him to take meds,\u201d Perez said. He said his son had been diagnosed with PTSD with bipolar tendencies, and his psychosis made him scared to take medications.<\/p>\n Giovanni Perez served for about four years in and around Iraq, his father said, and although he was trained as a cook, he was in several battle scenarios that scarred him. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen he came back, he was changed,\u201d Perez said. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t the bright-eyed 19-year-old that I remembered.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, Perez said his son had many stretches of stable mental health, when he was a devoted father of three. Callan was the middle of his sons, the only one of whom he had sole custody. <\/p>\n He had recently worked as a truck driver and enjoyed making music; his dad called him an \u201cexceptional lyricist.\u201d<\/p>\n Callan was a smart, joyful kid who looked up to his dad and was close with his younger brother. He was a big 49ers fan who dreamed of playing professional football, Frank Perez said. <\/p>\n