Gunman armed for ‘bloodbath’ kills 3

CINCINNATI – A gunman carrying hundreds of rounds of ammunition opened fire in a downtown office building Thursday, killing three people and wounding at least two more before he was fatally shot by cops.

Police Chief Eliot Isaac said three or four officers exchanged gunfire with the shooter, identified as Omar Santa Perez. Perez, 29, was armed with a

9mm semiautomatic pistol that was legally purchased, Isaac said.

No motive for the carnage was immediately determined. Mayor John Cranley said the gunman appeared to target random people.

“There’s something deeply sick at work here, and we as a country need to work on it,” Cranley said.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters told WLWT-TV that the rapid police response probably prevented many more casualties. He said officers charged toward the sound of gunfire coming from the Fifth Third Bancorp’s

30-story headquarters along Fountain Square. He said an investigator told him the suspect had enough ammunition to cause “a bloodbath beyond imagination.”

According to records available online, Perez was a North Bend, Ohio, resident who previously lived in South Carolina and Florida. Police searched his apartment in North Bend on Thursday afternoon, looking for clues.

Perez was a U.S. citizen born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, family members said. Yudy Martinez Perez broke down crying on the kitchen floor of her Forest Park, Ohio, home when she learned her nephew was the shooter.