Gunman’s rampage kills 4 in So. Calif.
Suspect shot dead on campus in Santa Monica
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Police say a gunman who killed four people in Santa Monica before officers shot him dead acted alone, and investigators have released a man who had been detained as a “person of interest.”
Sgt. Richard Lewis, a Santa Monica police spokesman, said at a news conference Friday night that the man was questioned and released, and he is not a suspect.
The violence began when the gunman, dressed in all black and wearing what appeared to be a ballistic jacket, opened fire on a house where two bodies were found.
Two officials briefed on the investigation say those two victims were the gunman’s father and brother.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the case.
Police said earlier that seven people were killed, including the gunman. But they corrected that late Friday to a total of five people.
As the house burst into flames, the man wounded a woman in a car before moving toward the campus, spraying bullets as he went. Police said he opened fire on a city bus, a police car and other vehicles, as well as bystanders and pedestrians.
He began shooting at an SUV leaving a campus parking lot.
That vehicle’s driver was shot, and two passengers were wounded as the car crashed through a block wall.
From there, the gunman entered the campus, shooting a woman as he made his way toward the college’s library, where students were studying for final exams.
“We saw a woman get shot in the head,” said administrative assistant Trena Johnson, who looked out the window of the dean’s office, where she works, when she heard gunfire. “I haven’t been able to stop shaking,” she said.
Inside the library, students reported hearing gunfire and screams.
“I was totally scared to death, and I can’t believe it happened so fast,” said Vincent Zhang, a 20-year-old economics major who said he heard a woman pleading, “No, no. Please, no.”
The gunman continued to shoot at people in the library, said city police chief Jacqueline Seabrooks, but apparently didn’t hit anybody there as dozens ran for the exits. “The officers came in and directly en- After Friday’s deadly shootings, a Santa Monica police officer leads children from Los Angeles out of Santa Monica College, where they had gone on a field trip to a planetarium show. gaged the suspect, and he was shot and killed on the scene,” she said.
Just three miles away, President Barack Obama was attending a fundraising luncheon. Secret Ser- vice spokesman Max Milien said the agency was aware of the shooting, which began just before noon, but it had no impact on the president’s event.
After the gunman was killed, police wearing helmets and armed with shotguns and rifles searched the campus for a second shooter. A man dressed entirely in black was seen being led away in handcuffs, but is presumably the man later released.
“We are not convinced 100 percent that the suspect who was killed operated in a solo or alone capacity,” Seabrooks said.