3 dead in Calif. office shooting

December 17th, 2011

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

Ringo H.W. Chiu / AP

Police officers walk through the office complex that houses offices of Southern California Edison on Friday after a man armed with a rifle shot two people dead, wounded others and then killed himself in Irwindale, Calif., police say.

Updated at 9 p.m. ET: The Associated Press reports that three people were killed and two more injured Friday in a California office complex shooting, police said.

The suspected gunman was among the dead and is believed to have self-inflicted wounds, Baldwin Park police Capt. Michael Taylor said.

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“As far as we know there was one shooting suspect, period,” Taylor said.

The shooting occurred around 1:30 p.m. Friday at Southern California Edison offices inside a larger office complex in Irwindale.

There was no immediate word on what prompted the gunfire. Authorities were not saying whether the gunman worked at SoCal Edison or might have been a former employee.

Multiple media reports said the gunman was an Edison employee and two of the victims were believed to be company managers. Police said they could not confirm those reports.

One of the dead was discovered inside the building during a sweep, and police were continuing their search for more victims, said Taylor.

Another victim died en route to a hospital. The two wounded have unspecified injuries and their conditions are not known.

Taylor said police have not accounted for everyone in the building yet and were doing a sweep.

No gunfire was exchanged after officers arrived.

The building was quickly locked down and dozens of people were seen streaming out with their hands raised.

Gil Alexander, a spokesman for Southern California Edison, said the company has about 200 employees at the facility.

Updated at 7:00 p.m. ET: Authorities issued conflicting reports about the number of dead at the hands of a gunman Friday afternoon at an office of Southern California Edison utility.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department said three people were dead and three others were in critical condition.

The unidentified gunman shot and killed himself after shooting a man and woman, said Irwindale Police Chief Dennis Smith.

Reports varied as police continued evacuating the building and searching offices.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the gunman shot four people, killing one, before shooting himself. The Times cited Capt. Michael Taylor of the Baldwin Park Police Department, which is helping with the investigation.

A source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the Times that the gunman worked as a systems analyst.

Updated at 6:40 p.m. ET: A gunman stormed into an office of the Southern California Edison utility Friday and shot a man and woman before killing himself, police said.

The building was quickly locked down and dozens of people were seen streaming out with their hands raised. Two nearby schools also were locked down but no one on the campuses was hurt. The lockdowns at Walnut Elementary School and Olive Junior High School were later lifted and children were dismissed.

“One male gunman shot one female, one male and then apparently took his own life,” Police Chief Dennis Smith told reporters.

The conditions of the two people he wounded were not immediately known. There was also no immediate word on what prompted the gunfire.

The utility’s office is in a complex of buildings that also includes a business called California Lighting Sales.

Cindy Gutierrez, the controller for that company, said employees there didn’t hear any shots fired and didn’t realize anything was amiss until building management announced over the intercom that everyone should stay indoors.

“At that point we knew something was wrong, then 5 to 10 minutes later that’s when we hear the police,” she said, adding that she and her 20 colleagues have been locked in their office ever since.

Irwindale is a small industrial city of about 1,400 residents in the San Gabriel Valley, 22 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

It is home to the popular Irwindale Speedway auto racetrack. It is also home to the annual Southern California Renaissance Pleasure Faire as well as sprawling rock and gravel quarries.

Southern California Edison is one of its largest companies, employing 2,100 people.

Updated at 6:05 p.m. ET: Baldwin Park police Capt. Michael Taylor said at a press briefing that there are no confirmed deaths at the Southern California Edison office in Irwindale.

There are “under six victims, and none of the wounds are life-threatening,” Baldwin said.

The gunman was shot, but it isn’t yet known whether his wound was self-inflicted, Baldwin said. It was not immediately clear whether the gunman was included among those with “non-life-threatening injuries.”

Updated at 5:59 p.m. ET: Authorities now say only one person, the gunman, has been killed at the Southern California Edison office in Irwindale. Two other people are reported to have been injured.

Updated at 5:57 p.m. ET: Southern California Edison says it will hold a news conference shortly.

Updated at 5:48 p.m. ET: KTLA-TV quotes police as saying the gunman shot a man and a woman, killing one of them, before killing himself. Fire officials confirm that one person is being treated for injuries.

Original post: IRWINDALE, Calif. — A building housing offices of Southern California Edison was evacuated Friday as police searched for possible victims of a gunman who shot and killed himself and a second person, local reports said.

SoCal Edison officials confirmed that there was a shooting at their office building in Irwindale, northeast of Los Angeles, but were unable to provide further details.

KTLA-TV of Los Angeles reported that the gunman and one other person were dead. Two schools near the building were locked down, but authorities said they did not believe there was a second gunman.

This is a developing story. Check back for further details. The Associated Press and NBC News contributed to this report.

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