Boy, 9, died in arms of wounded mom
A 9-year-old boy was the youngest of four people killed in a targeted shooting rampage near Los Angeles on Wednesday — dying in the arms of the mother who was trying to save him, officials revealed on Thursday.
The victims and suspected gunman Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez knew each other through a realestate business based at the Orange office building where he allegedly gunned them down, officials said.
“It appears a little boy died in his mother’s arms as she was trying to save him during this horrific massacre,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said at a press conference.
“It is a horrible, horrible tragedy that Mr. Gonzalez made a decision to use deadly force to deal with issues he was dealing with, apparently, in his life,” Spitzer said.
“But he will suffer and face the consequences,” the DA said, noting that if convicted, the suspect could face the death penalty for the “horrific rampage” because of its multiple victims.
A specific motive has not been stated, but officials said Gonzalez knew his victims personally or through work at the business.
“They were all known to each other,” Spitzer said, disclosing that the shooting was not random.
The names of the four dead — and of the brave mother, the only victim to survive — were being withheld pending family notification, officials said.
The mother and Gonzalez, 44, of Fullerton, were in critical condition. Police did not say whether Gonzalez’s injury was from police or self-inflicted.
“Our hearts today go out to the victims. We pray for one of the victims who is still in the hospital who underwent emergency procedures,” Spitzer said.
Orange Police Department spokeswoman Lt. Jennifer Amat said: “The preliminary motive is believed to be related to a business and personal relationship which existed between the suspect and all the adults.”
“We believe everyone knew each other,” she said.
Shots were still being fired when officers arrived at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the two-story office building 30 miles south of Los Angeles, officials said at the press conference.
Gonzalez had used bicycle-type locks to secure the gates on the north and south end of the complex’s courtyard, temporarily barring police from entering as the shots were being fired, officials said.
The suspect was “engaged” by police through one of the gates, which were then forced open using bolt cutters, they said.
Inside the courtyard, officers found the 9-year-old boy who died being cradled by a woman who was also wounded, officials said.
The three other victims — two women and a man — were found elsewhere in the office complex.
Officials said the shootings were centered on a mobile- and prefabhome real-estate and contracting business called Unified Homes.
The child is the son of one of the employees of Unified Homes, they said.
Police recovered at the scene a semiautomatic handgun and a backpack holding pepper spray, handcuffs and ammo that are believed to belong to the suspect, officials said.