Daughter of firefighter killed in station shooting wears father's jacket to high school graduation

ByAmy Powell WTVD logo
Sunday, June 6, 2021

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. -- The daughter of the firefighter who was killed in a Los Angeles County fire station shooting graduated from high school Thursday, wearing her father's firefighting jacket as she tearfully received her diploma.

Several hundred firefighters in black uniforms lined the entrance to College of the Canyons as Joslyn Carlon and her family entered the ceremony.

When the announcer read her name, the assembled students from Saugus High School in Santa Clarita applauded loudly as Joslyn walked on stage and accepted her diploma.

Over her robe, she wore the firefighting jacket that belonged to her father, Tory Carlon. As she walked off stage, she was accompanied by a sheriff's deputy who is a friend of the Carlon family.

"To honor that beautiful girl tonight meant so much to me, to all my colleagues and my friends," said L.A. County firefighter-paramedic Gary Reichman.

RELATED: Shooting at fire station leaves one firefighter dead, one wounded

Tory Carlon, a 44-year-old firefighter who had worked for the department for 20 years, was shot and killed Tuesday at the station in Agua Dulce, a rural community of about 3,000 people in the desert of northern Los Angeles County.

He was married with three daughters.

The shooter was a fellow firefighter, identified as Jonathan Patrick Tatone, 45, who then drove to his own home in Acton, set it on fire and took his own life. The two had been involved in an ongoing work-related dispute that has not been specified.

A 54-year-old fire captain was also wounded in the shooting and is recovering after surgery.

County Fire Chief Daryl Osby earlier described Carlon as a "brave, committed, loyal member of our department."

A GoFundMe page has been created to help Carlon's family.

RELATED: Somber procession honors slain firefighter