Santa Monica College Shooting: Police May Be Seeking Second Gunman


A Santa Monica College shooting that claimed the lives of seven people may have been the work of more than one shooter, police are speculating.

The California mass shooting that took place Friday afternoon was described as a series of separate shootings that started on a residential street and ended on the campus of Santa Monica College.

A house on Yorshire Avenue was set on fir, and inside the burning home police found the bodies believed to be the brother and father of the gunman.

After the initial shooting, the gunman moved toward the Santa Monica College campus, shooting indiscriminately at vehicles, including a bus and a police car. Two more people were killed during this round of gunfire, the Los Angeles Times and Associated Press report.

The suspect traded shots with police on campus before retreating into the library. He then shot a woman and attacked other patrons before police officers shot and killed him.

Police did not identify the suspect in the Santa Monica College shooting but said he was a white male between the ages of 25 and 30, wearing black clothing and a ballistic vest.

Police said they are still “not convinced 100 percent” that the Santa Monica College shooting suspect worked alone.

Witnesses at Santa Monica College seemed to indicate there may have been more than one shooter.

“As I was running down the stairs I saw one of the gunmen,” said Jimes Gillespie, a 20-year-old student. He said he believed there were two gunmen based on the different types of gunfire he heard.

“The shotgun blast was first. It was either him or the partner who shot eight to 10 handgun shots,” Gillespie said. “Then after I saw the gunman I heard more shots and I ran out of the library through the emergency exit.”

Police said the California mass shooting began when a suspect tried to break into a home near the community college, then set fire to another property nearby.

As police tried to determine if there was a second gunman in the Santa Monica College shooting, arson and bomb crews came in to investigate bags the suspect may have left on campus.

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