Shots Fired In Santa Monica /6 confirmed deaths including the gunman, John Zawahri/ many others injured at several different crime scenes in shooting rampage

SANTA MONICA (CBSLA.com) — Santa Monica College was on lockdown Friday after a shooting was reported in the library.

A suspect was down on campus located at 1900 Pico Blvd., according to Santa Monica police. “Multiple” injuries were reported, but it was unclear how many people were hurt.

According to reports, a worker on campus heard dozens of gunshots and saw students, who are taking final exams on the campus this week, scrambling for safety.

There were unconfirmed reports of a male adult was reportedly seen shooting at a bus and other cars around noon, according to CHP Sgt. Denise Joplin. More suspects were not ruled out, Joplin said.

President Barack Obama is in Santa Monica speaking at a luncheon fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee about a 10-minute drive from where the shooting took place.

It’s not known if the shooting is related to his presence in the city.

All Santa Monica schools were on lockdown until further notice.
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Three people were wounded Friday during a shooting in the Santa Monica College area, law enforcement sources told The Times.
The suspect was found in the school's library and taken into custody. The extent of the injuries were not immediately known, according to the sources.

The college was on lockdown, officials said.

Police sources told The Times the victims were shot inside a car either on the campus or near the campus.
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I'm being really careful of what I'm posting here, it's a real chaotic scene and I don't want to post rumors. Listening to the student's comments that were inside the library where the suspect is 'supposedly' down but there's rumors of another crime scene three blocks away but I do not believe that is confirmed or connected. They showed officers going into the campus with assault rifles as recently as thirty minutes ago.

At least three people were wounded Friday near Santa Monica College and one suspect was arrested in the school's library, according to news reports.

Santa Monica police said the gunman was among those wounded. The nature of all injuries were not immediately known.

Police were evacuating the community college and hunting for a possible second suspect.

The school is several miles from where President Obama was appearing at a fundraiser and apparently not related to his visit.

Police told KNX-AM radio that witnesses reported to the California Highway Patrol that a gunman with one weapons began shooting randomly at traffic just before noon PT (3 p.m. ET) across from the two-year college.

Police sources told the Los Angeles Times the victims were in a car either on the campus or nearby.
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(CNN) -- At least three people were wounded and a suspect reportedly was in custody Friday after a shooting at Santa Monica College in Southern California, according to officials and media reports.
Authorities were "checking reports for an additional shooter," Sgt. Denise Joslin, a California Highway Patrol spokeswoman, told CNN.
The school was under lockdown.
The wounded were taken to the UCLA Medical Center, Dale Tate, a hospital spokeswoman, told CNN. Two of the victims were in critical condition and one was in serious condition, she said.
The gunman got off at least one shot inside the campus library, several witnesses told CNN affiliate KCAL/KCBS.
Calls began coming into authorities at about 11:55 a.m. (2:55 p.m. ET) that there was a man holding several weapons and firing into cars and a bus near the college, Joslin said.
President Barack Obama was in Santa Monica for a fundraiser just a 10-minute drive from where students have been locked down, KCAL/KCBS reported.
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Not yet confirmed:
CNN just showed a home on fire, cars with windows shot out, close to the campus.
ABC said one person has died, doesn't know if it is the suspect.
I will confirm and provide the links as they become available.

SANTA MONICA (CBSLA.com) — Three people were hospitalized and at least one suspect was taken into custody following a shooting at Santa Monica College on Friday.

California Highway Patrol received a 911 call at 11:55 a.m. about a man with one or more guns and firing south of the campus located at 1900 Pico Blvd., according to Santa Monica police.

One suspect was in custody, according to CHP.

KNX 1070′s Margaret Carrero reports the shooting initially began at a residence near the campus.
A neighbor who was struck in the shoulder described hearing shots fired along Kansas Avenue between Stewart and Yorkshire, where Carrero reported a house was set on fire around the same general time of reports of shots fired at Santa Monica College.

The victim told Carrero she saw a man dressed all in black with a semiautomatic weapon in his hand and a belt full of ammunition around his waist. The victim said the man “looked official” and did not have his face covered, according to Carrero.

“He did apparently carjack a woman at gunpoint and took off from the scene,” Carrero said.


A Santa Monica fire official told the Associated Press two men were found dead in the burned home near the scene.

According to officials at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, three victims were being treated, with two in critical condition and one in serious condition.

According to reports, a worker on campus heard dozens of gunshots and saw students, who are taking final exams on the campus this week, scrambling for safety.

There were unconfirmed reports of a male adult was reportedly seen shooting at a bus and other cars around noon, according to CHP Sgt. Denise Joplin.

One student told KCAL9 there were two shooters seen at the time of the shooting.

President Barack Obama is in Santa Monica speaking at a luncheon fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee about a 10-minute drive from where the shooting took place.

It’s not known if the shooting is related to his presence in the city. Secret Service officials were aware of the shooting, but told reporters the President’s visit was not affected.

Some students remained on campus shortly before 1 p.m. and were ordered to shelter-in-place, according to CBS2′s Kara Finnstrom.

Santa Monica College and other area schools were on lockdown until further notice.

The campus is considered a gun-free zone that bans possession of “firearms or replicas, ammunition, explosives, knives/blades longer than 21/2 inches, other weapons, or fireworks”, according to official security policy.
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I fell asleep for an hour but prior to that I had not heard this was related to Obama's visit but as of right now I really don't know. I just turned it back on, one female victim has died and I think they said one suspect killed. This is getting old! Re: schools and people being shot up! What a crazy world this has become!

(CNN) -- One person died Friday in connection with a shooting at Santa Monica College in California, and authorities were investigating whether two other killings in the city were connected.
Of six people wounded, a woman has died and one was in critical condition and undergoing surgery, Dr. Marshall Morgan, chief of emergency medicine at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, told reporters.
A suspect was taken into custody, according to Sgt. Richard Lewis, a police spokesman. Witnesses told CNN a man they believed to be a gunman was shot and lay motionless on the ground.
An eyewitness on campus, Jason Garrett, told CNN the suspected shooter was dressed all in black and appeared to be wearing a tactical vest. The man appeared to be carrying a rifle, Garrett said.
A female witness -- who was shaken up by the ordeal and asked not to identified -- said she heard a noise, realized it was a gunshot, then took off running.
Then, in a hallway, she saw a dark-haired man whom she initially mistook for a police officer but later realized was the shooter. The man -- who she said was wearing black combat boots and what appeared to be a bullet-proof vest -- was quiet and walking casually
"(He had) a big shotgun," the woman said.
She and a colleague eventually realized something wasn't right and ran in the opposite direction. "Multiple" gun shots rang out at one point, in an exchange of gunfire the woman described as like a war zone.
Authorities continued to search for a possible second gunman, Officer Vince Ramirez told CNN. The search was on the campus and in the surrounding area, officials said.
The school was put under lockdown.
The gunman got off at least one shot inside the campus library, several witnesses told CNN affiliate KCAL/KCBS.
Priscilla Morales, who was in the library, told CNN she heard three gunshots. "I was so scared and thought literally I was going to die."
Meanwhile, the bodies of two men, believed to have been shot, were found inside a burning house in Santa Monica, near the college, Santa Monica Fire Capt. Jeff Furrow told CNN. One woman, shot and injured, was found in a car outside the house.
Authorities also were investigating a shooting that targeted a bus in Santa Monica. Two passengers were injured, Suja Lowenthal, a Big Blue Bus spokeswoman, told CNN.
Officials did not say whether the incidents are connected.
President Barack Obama was in Santa Monica for a fundraiser just a 10-minute drive from the campus, KCAL/KCBS reported.
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Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies search the grounds.

Los Angeles Police Department officers along with Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies search the campus of Santa Monica College after a reported shooting on Friday, June 7. Police said a suspect was taken into custody.

SANTA MONICA (CBSLA.com) — At least six people, including the suspected shooter, died Friday following a rampage in the Santa Monica-area.

Dr. Marshall Morgan of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center said three victims were transported there where one died. A second victim was said to be in surgery as of 3:30 p.m. and a third victim was listed in critical condition.

Three other victims were taken to UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica where all were said to be listed in “good condition.”

Witnesses said a gunman started shooting randomly at students on the college campus located at 1900 Pico Boulevard just before noon.

Many students were in the college’s library studying for finals when shots rang out and dozens of students began fleeing the multistory building.

“It looked like some kind of padded vest. Bullet proof vest. Armor something and an assault rifle. And when I looked at him, he looked at me and he then just panned over with his gun and I jumped out of the way and he shot at me,” said one witness.

“As I was running down the stairs I saw one of the gunmen,” Jimes Gillespie told The Associated Press. He described the shooter to the AP as a white man in his 20s, wearing cornrows in his hair and black overalls. He said the man was carrying a shotgun.

Gillespie believes there were two shooters because he heard two kinds of gunfire — a shotgun and a handgun — but only saw one person, according to the Associated Press.

As of 3 p.m., the 38-acre campus had not yet been cleared. School officials reported that final exams had been canceled for the day and would be rescheduled.

All schools in the surrounding area were placed on lockdown following the shooting.


However, lock downs were reportedly lifted at McKinley, Franklin, and Roosevelt elementary schools among others. Edison Elementary School remained on lockdown.

It was unclear if authorities were still searching for outstanding suspects. However, CBS News senior correspondent John Miller did report that the suspected shooter has died. It was unclear how he died.

Witnesses also reported that the suspected gunman was allegedly armed with more than one weapon.

Mike Gross, who was driving on Pico Boulevard at Cloverfield Boulevard just outside the campus, told CBS2’s Kara Finnstrom that he saw a man matching the suspect description exit a blue vehicle and allegedly begin shooting wildly at cars and at people.

“It happened right in front of me. I mean I was in my car and a guy on the left side of the street jumped out of a car with a big black gun and started blasting rounds at all of our cars and the buildings and the bus. Maybe like ten rounds. He jumped back in the car and went in the left. Took off,” he said.

Police are also investigating a shooting and fire at a home less than a mile from the campus. Two men were found dead inside and a woman was shot at in her car in front of the house.

It’s not yet clear if and how all three incidents are related.

Jeff Furrows of the Santa Monica Fire Department told the Associated Press there was extensive fire damage inside the home.

A body was also reportedly found on the southern end of the Santa Monica College campus, an eyewitness told CBS2.

President Barack Obama was in Santa Monica earlier in the day speaking at a luncheon fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee about a 10-minute drive from where the shooting took place. The President departed from Los Angeles International Airport just after 2:40 p.m. to travel to Rancho Mirage, where he was expected to meet with President Xi Jinping of China.

It’s not known if the shooting is related to his presence in the city. Secret Service officials were aware of the shooting, but told reporters the President’s visit was not affected.

The campus is considered a gun-free zone that bans possession of “firearms or replicas, ammunition, explosives, knives/blades longer than 21/2 inches, other weapons, or fireworks”, according to official security policy.
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SANTA MONICA (CBSLA.com) — As many as seven people, including the suspected gunman, died Friday following a rampage in the Santa Monica area.

“At this hour, it appears at least a half dozen are dead … information is still coming in as this is unfolding. We’re still fairly early in this,” said Santa Monica Police Department Chief Jackqueline Seabrooks.
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SANTA MONICA, Calif. (KABC) -- Seven people including the gunman are dead and at least five injured after a house fire and subsequent shooting near Santa Monica College Friday.

Police responded to the 2000 block of Yorkshire Avenue shortly before noon following reports of a structure fire.

Neighbors heard shots, exited their home, and saw a gunman standing outside the blaze.

"There was a guy standing in the street, dressed in full SWAT gear with a semi-automatic rifle in his hand and a belt full of ammunition," a witness said.

Responding officers found two dead males in the house fire. Law enforcement and medical personnel confirmed one of those victims died of a gunshot wound.

The gunman then attempted to carjack a woman. When she hesitated, the suspect shot the woman in the arm and fled. The female victim was transported to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and is listed in good condition.

Police believe the suspect then participated in a series of shootings along the areas of 28th Street and Pico Boulevard, Cloverfield Boulevard and Pico Boulevard and 19th and Pearl streets.

A person was fatally shot at Cloverfield and Pico Boulevard and two others were confirmed dead near 19th and Pearl streets.

California Highway Patrol spokesperson Sgt. Denise Joslin says the suspect or suspects also shot at a bus traveling down Cloverfield Boulevard near Olympic Boulevard.

"Those calls that came in reported this shooter was armed with multiple weapons and was firing shots at vehicles and at a bus," said Sgt. Joslin. "We believe there are injured parties on that bus as a result of the shooter."

Another shootingg,, believed to be related, was reported a few blocks east of the school's campus on 21st Street. An eyewitness told ABC7 cameraman Shawn McCarthy that a man dressed in black got out of a vehicle at a nearby intersection and started shooting indiscriminately.

According to authorities, the gunman shot at several vehicles before exchanging gunfire with police. He then attempted to evade by enterting the Santa Monica College campus.

Officials said additional shots were then exchanged on the college campus. It was unclear how many shots were fired or exactly where but witnesses reported hearing shots in the school's library.
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SANTA MONICA (CBSLA.com) — As many as seven people, including the suspected gunman, died Friday following a rampage in the Santa Monica area.

Police were first called to the 2000 block of Yorkshire where a fire was burning just after 11:52 a.m. Two people were found dead inside. Outside, a woman was found injured inside a car riddled with bullets.

Investigators believe the alleged gunman then drove away in what witnesses have described as a blue car and was allegedly involved in a series of shootings along Pico Boulevard.

“It happened right in front of me. I mean I was in my car and a guy on the left side of the street jumped out of a car with a big black gun and started blasting rounds at all of our cars and the buildings and the bus. Maybe like ten rounds. He jumped back in the car and went in the left. Took off,” Witness Mike Gross told CBS2′s Kara Finnstrom.

Police believe the gunman first shot someone outside the Santa Monica College’s campus located at 1900 Pico Boulevard and then went inside.

Witnesses said the suspect allegedly started shooting indiscriminately at students, many of which were in the college’s library studying for finals. Dozens of students began fleeing the multistory building.

“It looked like some kind of padded vest. Bullet proof vest. Armor something and an assault rifle. And when I looked at him, he looked at me and he then just panned over with his gun and I jumped out of the way and he shot at me,” one witness recalled.

“As I was running down the stairs I saw one of the gunmen,” Jimes Gillespie, another witness, told The Associated Press. He described the shooter to the AP as a white man in his 20s, wearing cornrows in his hair and black overalls. He said the man was carrying a shotgun.

Gillespie believes there were two shooters because he heard two kinds of gunfire — a shotgun and a handgun — but only saw one person, according to the Associated Press.

A short time later, police believe the suspected gunman was shot and killed by a responding officer. Police said they are still not sure he acted alone. One person of interest was being questioned by authorities.

“The information we have indicates at this point that as many as half a dozen victims were shot and killed and several more were injured and I’ve recently been informed that another victim recently died at the hospital,” said Santa Monica Police Department Chief Jackqueline Seabrooks.

Seabrooks said one person was struck by gunfire on the campus. A body was also reportedly found on the southern end of the campus, an eyewitness told CBS2.

Of the injured, Dr. Marshall Morgan of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center said three victims were transported there where one died. A second victim was said to be in surgery as of 3:30 p.m. and a third victim was listed in critical condition.

Three other victims were taken to UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica where all were said to be listed in “good condition.”

As of 3 p.m., the 38-acre campus had not yet been cleared. School officials reported that final exams had been canceled for the day and would be rescheduled.

“We are doing a very thorough search of the school footprint and as it stands, 90 percent of the school footprint has been searched and cleared so at this particular stage, I can’t give an assurance because we still have a balance that’s left and yet unsearched,” Seabrooks said.

All schools in the surrounding area were placed on lockdown following the shooting. Lock downs were reportedly lifted at most of campuses with the exception of Edison Elementary School.

It’s not yet clear if and how all three incidents are related. In Mar Vista, authorities reported that there was an ongoing SWAT operation as of 5:10 p.m. that may be connected to the investigation into the rampage.

President Barack Obama was in Santa Monica earlier in the day speaking at a luncheon fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee about a 10-minute drive from where the shooting took place.

Obama departed from LAX just after 2:40 p.m. to travel to Rancho Mirage, where he met with President Xi Jinping of China. Secret Service officials were aware of the shooting, but told reporters the President’s visit was not affected.
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Crime scene 1 mile in diameter

2 fatalities in resident

left residance and carjacked a young lady

lady drove car and suspect shot at bus.....3 injured

shot at 2 occupants in car on campus

fired at victim in front of library

shootout in library....suspect shot and expired outside on sdewalk

5 deceased

1 critical

3 minor injuries

1 injured and in stable condition in hospital

another suspect released.....had reason for being on campus.

believed to be only one suspect

Thanks for that update BJ. I had to leave and I'm hoping LE knows more now.

Santa Monica, California (CNN) -- [Update 11:55 p.m.]
(CNN) -- The gunman who went on a shooting rampage in Santa Monica, California, killed four people, police spokesman St. Richard Lewis said. Authorities said earlier that six had died, but revised the number to four. The gunman was also killed, bringing the total number of deaths to five.
The shooter began his rampage at a residence near the campus of Santa Monica College, opening fire in a house, where police later found two bodies. He then shot at a passing car before carjacking another vehicle, Lewis said. He forced the driver, a woman, to drive onto the college campus. There he shot two people in a passing vehicle. One died at the scene. The gunman also fatally shot someone outside the campus library, where he engaged police in a gunfight, Lewis said. Officers fatally wounded him.
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iReporter Daniel Kraft took this image of what he believes to be the shooter's body as Kraft was being evacuated from the campus by a SWAT team.

A Los Angeles County SWAT team sharpshooter circles the campus in a helicopter.

SANTA MONICA (CBSLA.com) — Police Friday revised the number of fatalities following a deadly shooting rampage in Santa Monica to five people, including the suspected gunman.

Police were first called to the 2000 block of Yorkshire Avenue just after 11:52 a.m. following a report of a shooting and fire at a home.

Upon arriving on scene, authorities located two men found dead inside the home, KNX 1070′s Margaret Carrero reports. A third person, identified as a woman, was shot just outside that home.

Santa Monica police Sgt. Richard Lewis said there was a possibility the victims in the Yorkshire Avenue home were related to the alleged gunman.

“Until we confirm identifications … we are not going to elaborate any further,” Lewis said. “This is a rather large crime scene. It spanning just about a mile in diameter if that’s how you want to place it and we have approximately nine crime scenes working right now.”

The sergeant explained that from that home, the suspected gunman then allegedly carjacked a female on Yorkshire Avenue and had her start driving.

“At Cloverfield and Pico, he shot at a big Blue Bus. On that bus, we had three injured. All minor and all walked into the hospital themselves,” the sergeant said. “The vehicle then traveled onto 20th and Pearl in the 1900 block of Pearl in what they call Lot 1 of the Santa Monica College campus. He encountered a red Ford Explorer and shot at the two occupants in there. Unfortunately, the driver of that vehicle expired here at the scene.”

Sgt. Lewis said the passenger in that Ford Explorer is at a hospital in critical condition.

From there, investigators believe the suspect went to the Santa Monica College campus located at 1900 Pico Boulevard. Police believe the gunman first shot someone in front of the library and then went inside. That individual was transported to an area hospital where she was pronounced dead sometime later.

Once inside the library, witnesses said the suspect allegedly started shooting indiscriminately at students, many of which were studying for finals. Dozens of students began fleeing the multistory building.


“It looked like some kind of padded vest. Bullet proof vest. Armor something and an assault rifle. And when I looked at him, he looked at me and he then just panned over with his gun and I jumped out of the way and he shot at me,” one witness recalled.

“As I was running down the stairs I saw one of the gunmen,” Jimes Gillespie, another witness, told the Associated Press.

He described the shooter to the AP as a white man in his 20s, wearing cornrows in his hair and black overalls. He said the man was carrying a shotgun.

Gillespie believes there were two shooters because he heard two kinds of gunfire — a shotgun and a handgun — but only saw one person, according to the Associated Press.

A short time later, police believe the suspected gunman was shot and killed by a responding officer.

“[The suspect] went into the library. Engaged officers in a firefight. He was fatally wounded or he was shot, taken out of the library, and he expired here on the sidewalk.” Sgt. Lewis said.

KNX 1070′s Vytas Safronickas reports that one person of interest was questioned by authorities. That person, however, was subsequently released. Police late Friday said they believe the suspect acted alone.
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SANTA MONICA (CBSLA.com) — A neighbor of the alleged Santa Monica gunman described him as a “useless human” who was abusive toward his mother.

Four people were killed and five others hurt after a lone shooter carried out a rampage across a Santa Monica neighborhood, on the streets, and on the campus of Santa Monica College, where he was later shot dead.

The spree began around 11:50 a.m. with reports of shots fired and a house ablaze near Yorkshire and Kansas avenues.

After crews extinguished the fire, they found two victims inside who may be related to the suspect.

Residents said the reported gunman’s 55-year-old father and older brother lived inside the house. They painted a picture of a family ripped apart by divorce to KCAL9’s Cristy Fajardo.

“The father was a very nice gentleman,” said Thomas O’Rourke. “But the boys kept to themselves. It was not an easy break-up (between the mother and the father). They moved in together with the two young boys 20 years ago. They divorced sometime after that. It was a bitter divorce.”


After the divorce, the older son stayed with the father, the other with the mother.

In 1998, the mother filed for a temporary restraining order against the father.

By then, she moved to Mar Vista with her younger son, who was described as an unemployed 20-something who was abusive to his mother.

“Her son, the younger one, is very, very strange,” said neighbor Beverly Meadows. “Howling, screaming, would yell at her mercifully. And he’s just…not right.”

Meadows said, “Useless human. Doesn’t work. Supposed to be going to school, but not really. He’s home all the time.”

Meadows said the mother is a good woman and a good parent.

“My heart is breaking for her. She’s out of town. She’s on vacation. She’s going to come back to this madness and wonder why her house is empty,” she said.

Meadows said the mother is overseas and has no way of reaching out to her.
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The first of four victims killed in a shooting rampage in Santa Monica, California, has been identified as Carlos Navarro Franco, 68, of West Los Angeles, the county coroner's offices said Saturday.
Franco was the driver of the red SUV gunned down at Santa Monica College on Friday.

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The FBI joined local authorities on Saturday in seeking to determine a motive for a gunman's rampage that killed four people in Santa Monica.

The gunman, who was also fatally shot by police to end Friday's harrowing incident, has not been identified. But law enforcement sources said his first victims were his father and brother, whose bodies were found in a burning home.

The sources said they believe those deaths appeared to be tied to a family dispute. But they stressed the investigation is still in its early stages.

Authorities said detectives were trying to look into the background of the alleged gunman as well as his family. They also want to know how he got the semiautomatic rifle he used.

Police are expected to hold a news conference Saturday morning.

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Santa Monica, California (CNN) -- The gunman's rampage began at a home in this beachfront city, leaving two dead inside. Then he carjacked a woman and fired at a public bus. It all ended when police shot him dead at Santa Monica College as students studied for finals, a mile from the house.
His blood trail, however, left four people dead Friday in Santa Monica, which abuts Los Angeles and is renowned for its liberal openness.
A law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN Saturday that the gunman had suffered mental health issues. A couple of years ago, he was hospitalized for treatment after allegedly talking about harming someone, according to the official.
It's not clear whether the state government or his family committed him for treatment or whether he committed himself. It's also unclear under what circumstances he was released. The gunman has yet to be identified by police.
Authorities have found no link to domestic or international terror, the official added.
Also Saturday, one of four victims shot dead was identified as Carlos Navarro Franco, 68, who resided in one of Los Angeles' west neighborhoods near Santa Monica, authorities said.. He was the driver of an SUV who was gunned down on the campus, police said.
The three other victims also have not yet been identified. The two-year college remained closed Saturday as police combed the crime scene for clues to the rampage, which began shortly before noon at an acquaintance's house in one of Santa Monica's breezy neighborhoods.
Dressed in black and toting an assault-style rifle, the man's apparently random gunfire became the nation's latest disturbing killing spree, ending with his death in the college library and leaving this tourist beachfront city reeling with shock.
A neighbor's account
Jerry Cunningham stepped onto her porch when she heard the shots. She saw the gunman firing at a neighboring house, which was also on fire.
She then observed the gunman force at gunpoint a woman to stop her car.
Another car approached. The gunman waved it by, Cunningham said. That driver, also a woman, hesitated for just a moment, and the gunman "fired three shots directly into her and the car," Cunningham said.
The motorist was wounded in the shoulder, she said. That driver was hospitalized and is in stable condition, authorities said.
The gunman then got into the first car and forced the woman to drive off with him, police said.
During their ride, 911 calls poured in, keeping police on the gunman's path, said Sgt. Richard Lewis, a spokesman for the Santa Monica police.
As the car headed toward the campus of the community college, where 30,000 students are registered, he opened fire on a passing bus, slightly wounding three people, Lewis said.
He was carrying an "AR-15 style rifle," pistols and "more clips for the rifle," Lewis said.
Police have described the shooter as a 25- to 30-year-old man who was dressed in black and wearing a tactical vest.
As the car pulled onto the campus, the man fired into Franco's red SUV, killing him and critically wounding his passenger, police said. Franco's vehicle crashed after the shooting, Lewis said.
The gunman then abandoned the hijacked vehicle -- leaving the driver unhurt -- and fled on foot, shooting at police, Lewis said.
On campus
College employee Joe Orcutt saw the firefight between the man and officers and took off running, but ran the wrong way and found himself facing the gunman.
"He looked over at me, and I looked at him," Orcutt said. "He just panned his gun and trained it on me, and I just jumped behind the building and he shot at me."
The gunman was "very calm, not running around." He was just "looking around for targets very casually," he said.
"He just looked like he was standing there posing for the cover of an ammo magazine or something. It was bizarre."
As the killer ran, he fatally shot a woman, then burst into the campus library, said Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks.
Another woman -- who asked not to be identified -- said she was in the building when she heard a gunshot. She took off.
In a hallway, she saw a dark-haired man in black combat boots who she initially thought was a police officer, but quickly realized was the shooter. The man was walking quietly and casually.
She and a colleague ran; gunshots rang out.
Priscilla Morales said that, when she and her friends looked out a library window and saw people running, they grabbed their belongings and prepared to leave, too, but didn't get far. "As we open the door, we hear three gunshots," she said.
So they closed the door and hid.
"I was so scared and thought literally I was going to die," she said.
"Drop it!" she heard police say, then heard gunshots and a man's screams.
The officers had shot the gunman, Lewis said.
Police said that, with the exception of his first two victims in the off-campus house, all of the other victims appear to have been chosen at random.
President Barack Obama was in Santa Monica for a fundraiser a 10-minute drive from the campus, CNN affiliate KCAL/KCBS reported. His schedule was not affected.
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His name hasn't been released yet. There was supposed to be a presser at 12 and so far it hasn't happened.

Nite, they're having the presser right now. They are not saying who the suspect is because his family has not been notified. They are not releasing anymore names for the same reason.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — The gunman who went on a chaotic rampage killing four people before being fatally shot by police at a college campus planned the attack and was capable of firing 1,300 rounds of ammunition, the police chief said Saturday.

"Any time someone puts on a vest, of some sort, comes out with a bag full of loaded magazines, has an extra receiver, has a handgun and has a semi-automatic rifle, carjacks folks, goes to a college, kills more people and has to be neutralized at the hands of the police, I would say that that's premeditated," said Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks.

The killer would have turned 24 on Saturday, but Seabrooks wouldn't identify him because his next of kin was out of the country. Police had an encounter with him seven years ago, but she wouldn't elaborate because he was a juvenile at the time.

The chief spoke near a display of weapons and ammo recovered from Santa Monica College where the killings ended Friday when police gunned him down in the library, where students were studying for finals.

Among items on display were surveillance photos of a man in black entering the library with an assault-style rifle by his side.

The gunman fatally shot one woman in the head outside the library before entering the building and opening fire as students ran for cover.

Students hid into what Seabrooks called a "safe room" in the library and barricaded the door for safety.

"They stacked items found in the safe room against the door, hunkered down and avoided shots fired through the drywall at them while they were in that room," she said.

The violence, which lasted little more than 10 minutes, started about a mile away when the gunman began shooting at a house, and it caught on fire. Two bodies were later found inside.

Two officials told The Associated Press that the killings began as a domestic violence incident and the victims in the home were the gunman's father and brother. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the case.

As flames rose from the house, the man, wearing what appeared to be a ballistic jacket, he shot a woman passing by in a car and carjacked another woman at gunpoint. He directed her to drive to the college campus, having her stop so he could shoot along the way, police said.

He fired on a city bus where three women were left with minor injuries. One had shrapnel-type injuries and the two others had injuries not related to gunfire. They were treated at a hospital and released.

The gunman also fired on police cars, bystanders and pedestrians, police said.

From there, the chaos shifted to the college, a two-year school with about 34,000 students located among homes and strip malls more than a mile inland from the city's famous pier, promenade and expansive, sandy beaches.

In a faculty parking lot on the edge of campus, he fired on two people in a red Ford Explorer that crashed through a block wall. The driver was killed, police said, and a passenger was in critical condition after undergoing surgery UCLA Medical Center, doctors said. On Saturday, authorities identified the driver as Carlos Navarro Franco, 68, of West Los Angeles, who worked at the school.

College employee Joe Orcutt was in the lot and said the gunman looked calm and composed as he fired at him. Orcutt jumped out of the way.

"He's just standing there, like he's modeling for some ammo magazine," Orcutt said, "seeing who he could shoot, one bullet at a time, like target practice."
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SANTA MONICA, Calif. (KABC) -- The suspected Santa Monica shootings gunman has been identified as 23-year-old John Zawahri, Eyewitness News confirmed Saturday.

Santa Monica police say the suspect in the shooting rampage was "heavily armed and ready for battle" when he stepped onto the Santa Monica College campus.

At a Saturday afternoon news conference, police laid out tables of evidence. According to police, the suspect dropped a duffle bag while walking through campus. Some of the bag's contents included an upper receiver to a .223-caliber rifle, an older model .44-caliber handgun and at least 20 loaded magazines. The suspect was also wearing protective knee pads and a utility vest that was not bullet resistant.
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Before going on a wild, bloody rampage that left four others dead, a Santa Monica gunman — mentally unhinged and apparently angry over his parents’ divorce — stockpiled 1,300 rounds of ammunition, officials revealed Saturday.
The gunman, who would have turned 24 Saturday, was identified as John Zawahri by the Los Angeles Times. Police did not oficially name the shooter Saturday, saying family was out of the country and could not be notified.

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Santa Monica College shooting victims Carlos Navarro Franco and daughter Marcela.
The gunman shot at Marcela Franco (left) and Carlos Navarro Franco. Marcela is still alive, but doctors have given her a grim prognosis. Carlos was killed.


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Chris Zawahri as a student at Santa Monica High School in 2004 as a junior. He was killed by his brother, John, on Friday, June 8, 2013.



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This is so damn sad!

WOW!! This is Horrific!!!!!!

John Zawahri in a 2006 yearbook photo from Santa Monica High School.

Santa Monica, California (CNN) -- A 26-year-old woman who had registered to take summer classes at Santa Monica College died Sunday from wounds she sustained in a shooting Friday.
Marcela Franco was with her father, Carlos Navarro Franco, 68, in an SUV on campus when they were shot. She was going to buy textbooks at the time.
Carlos Navarro Franco died; Marcela Franco was left in critical condition at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
Family relative Alfred Creollo told CNN Sunday that Marcela Franco had died.
College President Chui L.Tsang also announced, in a message to the school community, that Marcela Franco died Sunday morning.
"Her family was with her by her side," he said. "Our deepest sympathies go to the Franco family. At the appropriate time, the College will convene a campus-wide memorial."
The school has created a fund honoring the Franco family.
The suspect has been identified as John Zawahri, sources told CNN.
Authorities say he killed his father, Samir "Sam" Zawahri, and brother, Chris Zawahri, in a Santa Monica house before carjacking a woman and firing at a public bus on Friday.
Scant details are trickling in about Zawahri, who was killed by police at Santa Monica College on Friday -- the day before his 24th birthday.
The superintendent of the Santa Monica-Malibu school district said Zawahri attended a high school for students behind in academic credits in 2006.

"We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragedy that... once again, shatters our nation's confidence," Superintendent Sandra Lyon said.
Police had contact with the Zawahri in 2006, but because he was a juvenile, authorities couldn't release further information, Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks said.
A law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN on Saturday that the gunman had suffered mental health issues. A few years ago, he was hospitalized for treatment after allegedly talking about harming someone, according to the official.
It's not clear whether the state government or his family committed him for treatment or whether he committed himself. It's also unclear under what circumstances he was released.
Authorities have found no link to domestic or international terrorism, the official added.
The gunman and a family member had been enrolled in Santa Monica College as recently as 2010.

Authorities believe the house was set on fire before Sam and Chris Zawahri were shot.
The following 13-minute shooting spree spanned several parts of Santa Monica.
One of the four people killed was shot outside the library of the school, college Police Chief Albert Vasquez said. That woman's name has not been released.
The assailant dressed in black and carried an assault-style rifle. Seabrooks estimated the gunman had about 1,300 rounds of ammunition during the rampage. Because he was wearing a ballistic vest and was heavily armed, "I would say it's premeditated," she said.
His apparently random gunfire became the nation's latest disturbing killing spree, ending with his death in the college library and leaving this tourist beachfront city reeling with shock.
Investigators are still trying to determine the motive in the shootings that also left five people wounded.
Neighbors' stories
Jerry Cunningham stepped onto her porch when she heard the shots. She saw the gunman firing at a neighboring house that was on fire.
She then saw the gunman force a woman to stop her car at gunpoint.
Another car approached. The gunman waved it by, Cunningham said. That driver, also a woman, hesitated for just a moment, and the gunman "fired three shots directly into her and the car," Cunningham said.
The motorist was wounded in the shoulder, she said. Authorities said that driver was hospitalized and is in stable condition.
The gunman then got into the first car and forced the woman to drive off with him, police said.
During their ride, 911 calls poured in, keeping police on the gunman's path, Santa Monica police Sgt. Richard Lewis said.
As the car headed toward the campus of the community college, where 30,000 students are registered, he opened fire on a passing bus, slightly wounding three people, Lewis said.
He was carrying an "AR-15 style rifle," pistols and more clips for the rifle, Lewis said.
As the car pulled onto the campus, the man fired into Franco's red SUV, killing him and critically wounding his daughter, police said. Franco's vehicle crashed after the shooting.
The gunman then abandoned the hijacked vehicle -- leaving the driver unhurt -- and fled on foot, shooting at police, Lewis said.
Inside a classroom
Jasmine Franco, 22, was in a classroom at Santa Monica College -- next to the library -- waiting for her English class to start at noon on Thursday. Little did she know that the gunman began his rampage at a house near to where she lives with her mother, Carmen.
Jasmine Franco's friend had left the room to fill his water bottle and she was sitting alone when she first became aware something was wrong.
"You could hear rumbling, a lot of rumbling," she said, describing the sounds of gunfire mixed with the stampede of people running. "It sounded like an earthquake or something,"
But her 11 classmates and the teacher appeared oblivious, and continued their banter until her friend burst back in. "His whole face was red and his veins were coming out of his neck.
"I'm entirely serious," Franco recalled him saying. "There's a shooter on campus."
He told the class he had heard a gun unload. "He said it just sprayed and unloaded tons of rounds," Franco said.
Not knowing what to do, "We just sat there."
The teacher left the classroom to see what he could learn and, moments later, ran back inside. "He says, 'They just unloaded a magazine.'"
With the exception of his the gunman's father and brother,, all of the other shooting victims were apparently chosen at random.
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Came to the conclusion years ago that you never know when a person will SNAP! This has GOT to STOP! Prayers to the Franco family!

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (KABC) -- The mother of the alleged gunman in the Santa Monica shooting rampage released a statement Monday, expressing "great sadness" for the victims' families.

"As may be assumed, I am in mourning for my family and for those who were also affected by this horrific tragedy over the past few days. I cannot express my great sadness for the families who are also suffering at this terrible time," said Randa Abdou. "I do ask the media please give me time to grieve and to come to grips with the overwhelming sorrow that has befallen all of us. Thank you."
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June 11, 2013

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The man who killed five people in Santa Monica in a shooting rampage had shown an interest in assault weapons as early as 2006, according to a teacher at his old high school.

A veteran English teacher at Olympic High, Santa Monica's alternative school for students who have struggled in traditional programs, reported to the principal that John Zawahri, the solitary teen who regularly ditched class, was surfing the Internet for assault weapons.

Alarmed, he sent Zawahri to the principal's office. Within days, the police were involved and Zawahri was admitted to UCLA's psychiatric ward.

The teacher, who requested anonymity, recounted the 2006 incident as focus turned to what motivated Zawahri to kill his brother, father and three others Friday as he indiscriminately shot at vehicles and pedestrians across three locations in Santa Monica.

Zawahri, 23, was killed in the Santa Monica College library after gunning down a woman outside the building and a father and daughter in an SUV in the parking lot.

Why Zawahri targeted the college remained unclear. A school spokesman said Zawahri, as well as his father and brother, had been part-time students there, but there was no indication that Zawahri had animosity toward the school.

A woman who was carjacked by Zawahri said he specifically demanded to be taken to the college.

"There is no history of any kind of disciplinary issue with him in our records," said Don Girard, a senior director at the college.

He said transcripts show Zawahri was "sporadically" enrolled in the school's entertainment technology program in 2009 and 2010, taking courses in animation and video game development. School records show he had not been on campus for class since the fall of 2010.

Zawahri attended public schools in Santa Monica, studying briefly at Santa Monica High School, where one classmate said he remembered him as a silent boy who favored black, hooded sweat shirts.

Later at Olympic, he made few friends. After word spread through school about his Web-surfing for assault weapons, a classmate approached the English teacher with a disturbing tale, the teacher recalled Monday.

The young man said Zawahri had invited him to his home, showed him a samurai sword and named other students at Olympic whom he wanted to hurt, the teacher said.

He said he informed the principal, and within days, police had searched Zawahri's home and he was taken to UCLA's Neuropsychiatric Institute. He did not remain in the hospital long, which shocked school officials, the teacher recalled.

"We all said, why in hell did they let him out? But they had their legal reasons," the teacher said.

Santa Monica police have said its officers dealt with the gunman in connection with an incident in 2006 but declined to provide details because he was a juvenile at the time. School officials referred questions to Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Supt. Sandra Lyon, who declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.

Court records and interviews suggested Zawahri's upbringing was marred by the marital strife of his parents, immigrants from Lebanon. The couple separated on at least two occasions, with his father filing for divorce in 1993.

That year, teacher Wendy Parise encountered 4-year-old John and his mother, Randa Abdou, in a special education program at a Santa Monica public preschool.

"He was very withdrawn and clingy to his mother," Parise recalled Monday. "It was obvious to me there was trauma in the home."
Police on Monday said Zawahri had ammunition strapped to his body--including his chest and thighs--as well as in pouches in his clothing and protective vest. More ammunition was found in a black bag. In all, he had approximately 40 magazines capable of holding 30 bullets.

Authorities say they do not have a precise count of the number of rounds used by the former student but said it was expected to be more than 1,000.

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Weapons
Police display a .44-caliber handgun and parts of an AR-15 style, .223-caliber, semiautomatic rifle, along with multiple clips and boxes of ammunition and knee pads that belonged to the gunman, identified as John Zawahri.

June 11, 2013

Five people died and others were wounded when John Zawahri armed himself with a semi-automatic rifle and went on a shooting rampage Friday in Santa Monica, Calif. The carnage ended when police shot the 23-year-old to death in the Santa Monica College library. This is a brief look at the lives of the people he attacked, as well as his own troubled life.

SAMIR ZAWAHRI:
Zawahri, 55, was the gunman's father and one of the first people killed. He died at the Santa Monica house where he had lived since the early 1990s and where neighbors said he raised one of his two sons after he and their mother separated when the children were young. The split was acrimonious, and although one neighbor described Zawahri as "a very nice gentleman," his wife, Randa Abdou, said he was "abusive and controlling." In court papers seeking a restraining order against him in 1998, she said he had twice threatened to kill her and had punched her and pulled her hair. She said he also threatened to abduct their two sons and flee to Canada when the children were just 9 and 10.

CHRISTOPHER ZAWAHRI:

Zawahri, 25, was the gunman's older brother and also died at the Santa Monica house his father owned. Neighbors have said that after the couple split in the 1990s, one of the siblings went to live with their mother at a nearby apartment while the other lived with his father. Neighbor Beverly Meadows said it was Zawahri who lived with his mother, in an apartment next door to her's. His mother sheltered him, Meadows said, and he didn't appear to have a job. He had taken a course at Santa Monica College, and when he was home, neighbors said, he often listened to loud music.

DEBRA FINE:

with husband Russell Fine
Fine was the first person shot after the gunman left his father's home. She is recovering from wounds to her shoulder, arm and ear. Fine was driving home from a singing lesson when she saw the gunman, assuming at first he was there to provide security for President Barack Obama, who was attending a fundraiser nearby. "He looked right at me," Fine said. "Stared right at me and then shot. No hesitation." She believes he just wanted her out of the way so he could flee in the car of another woman he had abducted. As she fell to her side and pretended to be dead, she called her husband for help. Neighbors quickly came to her aid, one of them holding a towel to her wounds until paramedics arrived. When she got to the hospital she learned two other victims were already dead. "I feel very, very lucky to be here," she said.

CARLOS NAVARRO FRANCO:
Franco, 68, was the first person killed at Santa Monica College, where he had worked for 22 years as a groundskeeper. He was praised by the school's president, Chui L. Tsang, as "an integral part of the Santa Monica College family." His daughter Marcela Franco had enrolled in a summer class at the college, and the two were going to buy books for her when the gunman sprayed her father's SUV with gunfire. Franco was killed instantly and his daughter died at a hospital two days later. "Everything Carlos did was for the college and for his family," said his supervisor, Tom Corpus.

MARCELA FRANCO:
Franco, 26, was riding with her father in his SUV when the gunman sprayed the vehicle with bullets as it exited a staff parking lot at Santa Monica College. Her father, who worked as a college groundskeeper, was killed instantly and she died two days later at a hospital. Franco, who was pursuing a degree in psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills, had decided to take a summer class at Santa Monica, and she and her father, Carlos Navarro Franco, were on their way to buy her schoolbooks. "Marcela and Carlos were very close," said her aunt Margaret Quinones-Perez. "She was a daddy's girl, so the blessing is they went together."

MARGARITA GOMEZ:

Gomez, 68, was the gunman's last victim, shot to death outside the Santa Monica College library as horrified witnesses looked on. The mother of two sons was not a student at the college, but lived nearby and was well known on the campus. She visited regularly to collect cans and other recyclables, and would donate a portion of her recycling money to the Senior Latino Club, which meets regularly at a nearby park. The money would go to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and other causes the club supports. Students would often hand over their cans to her, and this week they created a makeshift memorial in her memory, filling it with candles, flowers and balloons. "She was just the nicest lady," said college bookstore manager David Dever. "She would come by the bookstore regularly, and always had a big smile for us."

JOHN ZAWAHRI:

Zawahri, 23, had reportedly led a troubled life for years before launching Friday's deadly rampage. Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks said he had a run-in with authorities seven years ago, although she declined to elaborate because he was a juvenile at the time. Zawahri killed three of his five victims at Santa Monica College, where he had been enrolled in electronic game design classes in 2009 and 2010. College officials say he was never disciplined during that time. He was killed Friday in a gunfight with police inside the school library as students fled the building or ducked for cover. He would have marked his 24th birthday the next day.


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Pictures to article added by NiteSpinR

When will this country wake up and realize that we really need to help the mentally ill. Rhetorical. Again, the problem is staring them in the face and again more lives have tragically been lost. MOO.

Thanks for your latest post Nite. So incredibly sad. I bet his weapons were not obtained legally. MOO.

raine1953 wrote:When will this country wake up and realize that we really need to help the mentally ill. Rhetorical. Again, the problem is staring them in the face and again more lives have tragically been lost. MOO.