Six people are dead — including the suspected shooter — after a man opened fire at multiple locations in Bakersfield, California on Wednesday, according to police.
Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said at a news conference that officers responded to calls of a shooting at a trucking business just after 5 p.m. local time. Authorities say that a husband and wife had a confrontation with a man at the business when the husband shot and killed him. He then fatally shot his wife, Youngblood said. Another person arrived and the suspect fatally shot him after a short foot chase.
Videos by PopCulture.com
The gunman fled the area, going to a nearby residence and fatally shooting two more people.
He then hijacked a vehicle with a woman and child in it; they were able to escape safely. He drove to a nearby highway where he pulled over into a parking lot when he saw a deputy. USA TODAY reports that the suspect got out of the vehicle with a large-caliber handgun but before he could be arrested, he turned the gun on himself and shot himself in the chest.
Youngblood told reporters that 10 to 15 minutes elapsed from the first shooting until the gunman killed himself, KBAK-TV reports. “Six people lost their lives in a very short period of time. This is highly unusual,” he said.
Although he added that “This is the new normal, if you look across the country, these types of shootings.”
Investigators are questioning around 30 witnesses in the case. The gunman’s motive and relationship to all the victims is currently unclear.
While an exact motive was not disclosed, Lt. Mark King of the Kern County Sheriff’s Office said that “there’s a strong indication” it was a case of domestic violence.
The names of the victims or the gunman have not been released.
“Obviously, these are not random shootings,” Youngblood told KERO-TV.
Bakersfield is about 90 miles north of Los Angeles.
This story is developing.
