Son, 23, Held in Woman’s Shooting Death

A young man recently returned from college was arrested early Tuesday on suspicion of fatally shooting his mother in their Westminster home, police said.

The victim, 56-year-old Ann Rizer, died Monday afternoon of a single gunshot to the head, said Westminster Police Sgt. Bill Arganda. He said several guns were recovered at the house, in the 5800 block of Lancashire Avenue, but it was not clear which, if any, was used in the shooting.

Police said a 911 call reporting “shots fired” came from the Rizer residence, but it wasn’t known who placed it. They said they didn’t know whether the victim’s husband, Joseph, was in the house during the shooting, and that there had apparently been no struggle beforehand.

Ann Rizer could often be seen gardening, said neighbor Tracy Babauta, and she helped Little League teams even after her son, Michael, stopped playing.

Neighbors described Michael, 23, as a quiet but friendly young man.

Babauta, who said she has lived across the street from the family her entire life and once was a baby-sitter for the Rizers’ only child, said news of the shooting came as “a complete shock.”

“He seemed like a good kid,” she said. “He always made it a point to say hello.”

The Rizers are the original owners of the house and have lived there since 1971, documents show. In recent years, neighbors said, the family had mostly kept to itself.

A rusted camper vehicle was parked in the driveway. Neighbors said the family used it to take trips to the beach, mountains and desert, but it has lately sat idle.

Neighbor Owen Eames, who worked with Joseph Rizer for the Boeing Corp., said he moved into his house the same year the Rizers moved into theirs. About that time, Eames said, the neighborhood was filled with young families whose children often played together.

As the kids got older, “everybody started to go their own ways,” Eames said. Neither Michael Rizer nor his parents had many guests, he said, but there didn’t seem to be any trouble in the home.

On Tuesday, friends and co-workers dropped by to visit Joseph Rizer, who declined to be interviewed.