Gunman kills 6 in latest US shooting rampage

A man carrying an assault-style rifle killed at least six people before being shot dead by police during a gunfight in a college library.

Santa Monica police chief Jacqueline Seabrooks said the rampage began at a house in the California coastal city.

It continued as the man, dressed in black, made his way to Santa Monica College.

Ms Seabrooks said he killed two people in the house, two more as he moved several streets towards the campus, then two more on the campus.

He was then shot dead by police in the campus library.

He entered the library and fired on other people but did not hit them, Ms Seabrooks said.

Several students in the library reported hearing gunfire and one witness said he heard a woman scream.

“The officers came in and directly engaged the suspect and he was shot and killed on the scene,” Ms Seabrooks said.

She identified the gunman as 25 to 30 years old, wearing what appeared to be a ballistic jacket.

The campus was searched for a second shooter and a man dressed entirely in black, with the words “Life is a Gamble” on the back of his sweatshirt, was seen being taken into custody. He did not appear to be wounded.

“We are not convinced 100% that the suspect who was killed operated in a solo or alone capacity,” Ms Seabrooks said.

The drama unfolded about three miles from where President Barack Obama was attending a fund-raising lunch.

Three women with gunshot wounds were admitted to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Centre, said Dr Marshall Morgan, chief of emergency medicine. One died, another was undergoing surgery, and the third was in a serious condition but doing well, he said.

Three other women had relatively minor injuries, Dr Morgan said. One had shrapnel-type wounds and the two others had injuries not related to gunfire.

Jeff Furrows of the Santa Monica Fire Department said there was extensive damage inside the home where two bodies were found, and one of the wounded women was found with a gunshot wound in a car nearby.

Jerry Cunningham Rathner, who lives near the house, said she heard gunshots and came out to see a man shooting at the residence. Soon the building erupted in flames and was billowing smoke.

The gunman, wearing an ammunition belt, went to the corner and pointed a rifle at a woman in a car and told her to pull over, she said. He then signalled to a second car, also driven by a woman, to slow down and began firing into the vehicle.

“He fired three to four shots into the car – boom, boom, boom, right at her,” said Ms Cunningham, who went to the woman’s aid and saw she was wounded in the shoulder.

“I can’t believe she didn’t have worse injuries.”

She said the gunman then abducted the woman in the first car and drove away.

From there, the scene shifted to Santa Monica College, in a neighbourhood of strip malls and homes more than a mile inland from the city’s famous Santa Monica Pier, Third Street Promenade and its expansive, sandy beaches.

Jimes Gillespie, 20, was in the college’s library studying when he heard gunfire, and he and dozens of other students began fleeing the three-storey building.

“As I was running down the stairs I saw one of the gunmen,” said Mr Gillespie, who described the shooter as a white man in his 20s, wearing cornrows in his hair and black overalls. He said the man was carrying a shotgun.

Mr Gillespie believed there were two shooters because he heard two kinds of gunfire – a shotgun and a handgun – but saw only one person.

“The shotgun blast was first. It was either him or the partner who shot eight to 10 handgun shots,” Mr Gillespie said. “Then after I saw the gunman I heard more shots and I ran out of the library through the emergency exit.”

As Mr Gillespie ran across campus, he said he saw a car in front of the English building that was riddled with bullet holes, had shattered windows and a baby’s car seat in the back.

Another student, Khwanfa Wilepananon, said he and a friend were on the library’s third floor when they heard a loud bang and a woman’s scream from the first floor. As he and a friend fled downstairs, he said they heard two shots.

“It was so scary,” he said. “It was so dark and I was scared. We didn’t know what to do.”

Santa Monica police sergeant Rudy Flores said numerous witnesses called to report that the shooting near the college began with a man on a street corner near the college firing shots at vehicles, including a bus.

California Highway Patrol officer Vince Ramirez said his agency began receiving 911 calls just before noon.

“We understand one shooter was taken into custody shortly after we arrived,” he said.

The two-year college, with about 34,000 students, was in the midst of final exams yesterday. It was quickly locked down by police and students were told to leave.

Mr Obama was attending a fund-raising lunch about three miles away.

Secret Service spokesman Max Milien said the agency was aware of the shooting but it had no impact on the president’s event.