Suspect locked entries in California office building shooting; 4 dead including a 9-year-old boy

The suspect locked the entry gate into the Southern California office building before the shootout, killing four, including a 9-year-old.

The incident which happened on Wednesday evening in Orange, about 30 miles south of Los Angeles, was the third high-profile mass shooting in the nation in less than three weeks.

The suspect is identified as Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez, 44. He knew each of the victims, Lt. Jen Amat said, adding the boy who died in the attack was the son of one of the victims.

Amat said, ” It appears all of the adults were connected either by business or personal relationships, this was not a random act of violence.”

When the police received the call they responded quickly to the scene but found two gated courtyards allowing entry to the building were locked from the inside using a bicycle cable lock. Officers heard gunshots as they responded and fired at the suspect from outside the gate.

When bolt cutters were brought to the scene, they made their way into the courtyard of the building and found the suspect injured.

According to the police the 9-year-old boy was found dead in the arms of women who officials believe was his mother in the courtyard outside. She had also been injured and is in critical condition in hospital.

The shooting comes just a week after a gunman in Boulder, Colorado, killed 10 people at a supermarket. The week before that a gunman in the Atlanta area killed 8  people most of them were women of Asian descent – in three spas