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“The preliminary motive is believed to be related to a business and personal relationship that existed between the suspect and all of the victims,” Orange Police Department spokeswoman Lt. Jennifer Amat said at a news conference Thursday.
“This was not a random act of violence,” he said.
Amat did not identify the victims and said that family members’ notifications had not been completed. Among the dead were two women, a man and the 9-year-old boy, he said.
The boy, who was found in the courtyard complex, is believed to be the son of one of the victims who worked in the business, Amat said.
A fifth victim, a woman, was found with the child. They took her to a local hospital, where she is in critical but stable condition, Amat said.
Police identified the suspect as Aminadab Gaxiola González, 44. He is also in a local hospital in critical but stable condition, Amat said.
The gates to the complex were locked from the inside, say police
Police first responded to the shooting reports around 5:30 p.m., Amat said. When the initial officers arrived, shooting was taking place inside the shopping complex.
At first, officers were unable to enter the building’s courtyard because its doors on the north and south sides “had been locked from the inside,” Amat said, “using a bicycle-type cable lock.”
Two officers confronted the suspect, he said, and a “shootout with officers involved” ensued.
The police were then able to enter the courtyard and found the suspect, who was injured, and detained him. Police had previously said it was unclear whether his injury was self-inflicted.
In the courtyard, the police also found the child and the adult woman who survived.
“It appears that a child died in his mother’s arms as she tried to save him during this horrible massacre,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said at Thursday’s press conference, though he later added that nature Their exact relationship was still under investigation.
Officers found three other victims in other parts of the complex, Amat said. A woman was up on an outdoor landing, a man was found inside an office building, and another woman was found in a separate office building.
The suites where some victims were found belonged to a business identified as Unified Homes, said Amat, a real estate business specializing in mobile homes.
Investigators recovered a semi-automatic pistol and a backpack containing pepper spray, handcuffs and ammunition, which authorities believe belong to the suspect.
Orange is about 30 miles south of Los Angeles. The complex where the shooting occurred is home to several companies, including Farmer’s Insurance, Calco Financial, and Miller Counseling.
DA: Suspect eligible for the death penalty
Authorities remained on the scene Thursday to complete the investigation.
Spitzer said investigators from his office were at the scene of the shooting for two reasons: to investigate the mass shooting, as well as the aspect of the shooting case that officers were involved in, to ensure both objectivity and transparency.
Spitzer emphasized that the suspect is eligible for the death penalty under California law because there were multiple victims.
Prosecutors are also investigating whether the fact that the doors were closed constitutes “lurking,” Spitzer said, a special circumstance that would also make the suspect eligible for the death penalty.
Spitzer said that over the course of his tenure he had reviewed nearly 20 homicide cases to see whether to pursue the death penalty, but that he has never brought a death case.
“Asking a jury to render a death verdict is the most serious consequence we ask for, and it is the only consequence when a jury makes the decision instead of a judge,” he said.
‘Horrible and heartbreaking’
“I’m just trying to find out his well-being,” Tovar said. “He doesn’t answer his phone, and neither does my niece. I’m quite scared and worried. I wish I knew more.”
Tovar told CNN later Thursday morning that he still had no news from his brother or niece.
The Los Angeles division of the FBI confirmed to CNN that it had responded to the shooting as a matter of course, but the Orange Police Department is the lead investigating agency.
“I can tell you that we have not had an incident like this in the city of Orange since 1997,” Amat said. “It is a tragedy for the victims, their families, our community and our police department.”
News of the mass shooting generated immediate condemnation.
Rep. Katie Porter, a California Democrat who represents Orange County, said she and her staff are monitoring the situation.
CNN’s Alexandra Meeks and Joe Sutton contributed to this report.
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