Police: Gunman knew victims in California mass shooting

ORANGE, Calif. — The gunman who killed four people and critically wounded a fifth at a Southern California office building knew all the victims and apparently before opening fire chained shut the gates to two entrances, delaying police from getting inside, authorities said Thursday.

Among the victims of the “horrific massacre“Wednesday afternoon was a 9-year-old boy who was found cradled in the arms of a woman believed to be his mother, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said. The woman was the only survivor among those shot. The others killed were a man and two women.

“Our hearts today go out to the victims, and I’m here to tell you that we’re going to do everything in our power in the Orange County District Attorney’s office to get justice for these families,“Spitzer said. He said he will consider seeking the death penalty.

The violence in the city of Orange was the third major mass shooting in just over two weeks. Last week a gunman opened fire at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, and killed 10. A week before that, six Asian women were among eight people killed at three Atlanta-area spas.

The suspect in the California shooting was identified as Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez, 44, of nearby Fullerton. He was critically wounded and it was unclear whether he suffered a self-inflicted wound or was shot by police.

Police said Gonzalez knew all the victims either personally or through business. They said the precise relationships were still being determined. No names of the victims were released.

The shooting occurred

around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in a two-story building that houses a variety of businesses in Orange, southeast of Los Angeles. Police received multiple reports of gunshots and officers were on the scene almost immediately, Orange police Lt. Jennifer Amat said.

Scott Clark, owner of Calco Financial, left his office early on Wednesday, around 4:45 p.m. His workplace is two doors down from Unified Homes.

“I must have had an angel from God watching out for me to make me leave an hour before I usually do,” Clark said.

Since the pandemic began, Clark said parents would often bring their children to work. He did not know anything about the 9-year-old victim and did not recognize the shooter’s name.

Arturo Reyes Torres, 41, an equipment operator who had been fired six weeks earlier, killed four people and wounded others, including a police officer, before police killed him.

Paul Bersebach / Associated Press Officials on Thursday work outside the scene of a shooting in Orange, Calif. The gunman who killed four people and wounded a fifth at an office complex knew all the victims either through business or personally, Southern California police said.