Four People, Including A Child, Shot And Killed In Orange, California
By a Biometrica Staffer
The evening of Wednesday, March 31, became another horrific American statistic, as four people, including a child, were gunned down in an office complex in Orange, California, about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Lt. Jennifer Amat, a spokeswoman for the Orange Police Department, said that officers had responded to the area of 202 West Lincoln Avenue near Glassell Street after reports of shots fired around 5:30pm.
This is the third mass shooting in the United States in as many weeks, with 22 lives being claimed in 16 days. The first incident happened in Atlanta, Ga., on March 16 and the second in Boulder, Co., on March 22. There was also a shooting on Friday, March 26, in Virginia Beach, in which two people were killed and eight injured, but as mass shootings in the United States are typically defined as incidents when at least four people have died, excluding the shooter, that incident wasn’t defined as a mass casualty event.
While there isn’t much information as yet about the shooter in the California event, a Facebook live video, ostensibly from a bystander and posted by Newsweek, showed a man, believed to have been the gunman, being dragged out by police. He was injured and is being treated at an area hospital.
Local law enforcement held a news conference late on Thursday morning, and stated that the shooter was a 44-year-old man, who they named as Aminadab Gasiola Gonzalez. They stated he had business and personal relationship with the victims. In all three other shootings mentioned here, the suspects have been young men: A 21-year-old white man in the Atlanta shooting, another 21-year-old, of Arab origin, in the Boulder event, and three black men, 22, 20, and 18, in Virginia Beach.
Few Details As Yet In Orange Shooting
“I can tell you that we haven’t had an incident like this in the city of Orange since 1997,” Lt. Amat said. “It’s just such a tragedy for the victims, their families, our community and our police department.”
At least two victims hospitalized as a result of gunshot wounds were in critical condition in hospital.
California Rep. Katie Porter said she and her team are monitoring the situation. “I’m deeply saddened by reports of a mass shooting in Orange County, and I’m continuing to keep victims and their loved ones in my thoughts as we continue to learn more,” Porter said on Twitter.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom also tweeted his condolences.
Bloody March
It has been a traumatic March for the United States. While 10 people were shot in the Virginia Beach incident, one was injured in police action, Police Chief Paul Neudigate said.
In Boulder, a gunman opened fire at a King Soopers outlet on March 22, killing 10, including police officer Eric Talley, who responded to the incident. Boulder is about 25 miles northwest of Denver.
On March 18, at eight people were left dead after a gunman went on a rampage targeting spas in in Atlanta. Six of the victims were women of Asian descent.