A child was among four people killed Wednesday in a shooting at an office building, located in in the city of Orange southeast of Los Angeles, that left a fifth victim and the shooter critically wounded, police said, in what was the nation's third mass shooting in just over two weeks.
When police arrived at the two-story structure around 5:30 p.m. shots were being fired, Orange Police Lt. Jennifer Amat said. Officers opened fire and the suspect was taken to a hospital, Amat said.
It's unclear if the suspect suffered a self-inflicted wound or was shot by police. Police provided no details on the victims other than to say one was a child and a woman was critically wounded.
In a tweet, Gov. Gavin Newsom called the killings "horrifying and heartbreaking." He wrote: "Our hearts are with the families impacted by this terrible tragedy tonight."
U.S. Democratic Representative Katie Porter of California, whose district includes the city of Orange, said on Twitter that she was "deeply saddened." Amat had no information about what may have prompted the attack. She said the shooting occurred on both levels of the building.
Signs outside indicated a handful of businesses were located there, including an insurance office, a financial consulting firm, a legal services business and a phone repair store. People gathered outside the building after the shooting hoping to get word about loved ones.
Paul Tovar told KTLA-TV that his brother owns a business there. "He’s not answering his phone, neither’s my niece," Tovar said. "I’m pretty scared and worried ... right now I’m just praying really hard."
Charlie Espinoza also was outside the building and told The Orange County Register that he couldn’t reach his fiancé, who works for a medical billing company.
Cody Lev, who lives across the street from the office building, told the newspaper he heard three loud pops that were spaced out, then three more. There was silence, then he heard numerous shots, followed by sirens and then more shots.
A Facebook livestream posted by a resident who lives near the office appeared to show officers carrying a motionless person from the building and officers providing aid to another person.
The killings follow a mass shooting at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, last week that left 10 dead. A week before that six Asian women were among eight people killed in three Atlanta-area spas.
The city of Orange is about 48 kilometers (30 miles) from Los Angeles and home to about 140,000 people.
Amat said the shooting was the worst in the city since December 1997, when Arturo Reyes Torres, 41, an equipment operator who had been fired six weeks earlier, armed with an assault rifle attacked a California Department of Transportation maintenance yard, killing four people and wounding others, including a police officer, before police killed him.