One Dead, Several Injured in Santa Monica College Shooting - East Idaho News
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One Dead, Several Injured in Santa Monica College Shooting

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Thinkstock N 031711 Policeman?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1370637644431Jupiterimages/Thinkstock ((SANTA MONICA, Calid.) — As many as six people were killed in a bullet-riddled rampage across Santa Monica, Calif. on Friday, according to police.

The suspect died after a shootout with police at Santa Monica College, making him the seventh fatality. Authorities also had a person of interest in custody.

In addition to the dead, two to three people were injured, police said, though an area hospital chain reported one person dead and five being treated after the shootings.

Authorities responded to a report of shots fired at 11:52 a.m. PT and found a house on fire.

At the same time, they received reports of a carjacking and multiple shootings that might be related, according to Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks.

When officials encountered a suspect, he took off towards Santa Monica College.

“There was an exchange of gunfire at that time and the suspect attempted to evade the officer by running off to the college campus,” Seabrooks said.

The suspect made his way towards a library, where he shot at least one woman and then went inside, pursued by law enforcement, police said.

“He continued to shoot at them,” Seabrooks said. “The officers came in and directly engaged the suspect and he was shot and killed on the scene.”

Elsewhere, the person of interest was taken into custody, but officials would not provide details about that person.

“We are not convinced 100 percent that the suspect who was killed operated in a solo or alone capacity,” Seabrooks said.

She said the investigation was still “in its infancy” and that the series of consecutive incidents were “more than one” and “as many as six.”

Two people were found dead in that house fire, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. It is unclear if those two people were among the six dead in the shooting rampage.

Five female victims were hospitalized at a pair of UCLA Medical Center hospitals, with one victim in an operating room in what was considered very critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head, said the official, Dr. Marshall Morgan, UCLA Medical Center’s chief of emergency medicine, prior to the briefing by Seabrooks.

A sixth victim, who died, suffered primarily from abdominal injuries, Morgan said.

Three of the women, including the deceased victim, were brought to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. The other three female victims, who were described as having more minor injuries, were at UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica, and listed in good condition.

It was unclear where the other deceased victims described by Seabrooks were taken.

The college campus went on lockdown following the shooting incident as police attempted to secure the scene.

Santa Monica College student Sam Luster was preparing for a presentation in the school’s library when he heard gunfire.

“We didn’t know what was happening until all the students at the entrance of the library started running down towards the bottom of the library,” Luster told ABC News Los Angeles station KABC.

Luster took cover under a desk before moving towards an exit. He said he heard multiple gunshots near the exit.

In 911 calls, the shooter was described as armed with several weapons and possibly a long gun or shotgun.

Authorities said that one of the wounded people was on a bus that was fired upon.

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