Hammer Found in Home of Bludgeoned OCSD Reserve

While Jon Kudla lay in critical condition at Mission Hospital, his son was booked into Orange County Juvenile Hall late Wednesday night for attempted murder.

Authorities believe his 17-year-old son, a junior at Trabuco Hills High, bludgeoned his father in the head with a hammer that was discovered in their Shadow Rock Lane home in Rancho Santa Margarita.

Kudla, 50, was discovered unconscious by his mother Wednesday, about 9:30 a.m. He remained hospitalized Thursday in critical condition with "blunt force trauma to the head," said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the OCSD.

He is in an induced coma with life-threatening wounds.

"We recovered a hammer in the home that we believe was the weapon used against him," Amormino said.

Investigators will be meeting with physicians today to determine if the victim was shot. So far, investigators have not been able to locate Kudla's handgun. As a reserve officer, he volunteers his time for various police services, but holds the same distinction as a regular OCSD deputy—which includes carrying a service revolver.

"We're trying to definitively determine if he suffered a gunshot wound," Amormino said. "Initially, the medical staff said blunt force trauma and a gunshot; they're going to revisit the gunshot wound.

"We're going to meet with the medical staff later today to try to confirm that."

Investigators, after receiving a search warrant Wednesday evening, discovered the hammer inside the two-story home just off Robinson Ranch Road. They will continue to pore over evidence to try to uncover a motive. Thus far, they have not been able speak to the elder Kudla.

Amormino said it will be up to prosecutors to determine whether the suspect is charged as an adult; the OCSD has withheld his name because he is a minor. Whether he is charged as an adult should be determined within 72 hours, he said.

Kudla's teen son is the oldest of three who live in the residence, along with Kudla's mother, who found him unconscious about 9:30 a.m. A call was made to 9-1-1 at 9:34 a.m.

A regional broadcast was issued for the boy, who was spotted by California Highway Patrol officer driving a black Volkswagen convertible near the I-5/605 Freeway interchange. He was pulled over at Gage Ave., in City Terrace, a community in East L.A.

Trabuco Hills High School was put on lockdown late Wednesday morning as investigators looked for the teen. That lockdown was lifted about 1 p.m., according to an OCSD spokesperson.

—City News Service contributed to this report