Update: At least 5 dead in Santa Monica rampage shooting and arson attack; gunman identified



SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 7, 2013: Police officers secure a scene at Cloverfield and Olympic after a gunman opened fire on a Santa Monica city bus during a rampage that covered more than a mile. At least seven are dead including the gunman, who was killed by police nearby. Photo: Anthony Citrano.

Update: The gunman accused of killing four people in a shooting and arson rampage in Santa Monica Friday is said to have been angry over his parents' divorce, and had past mental health problems. The suspect is identified as John Zawahri, and he would have turned 24 years old on Saturday. He attended Santa Monica College, where most of the violence took place, as recently as 2010. Authorities today described him as having been “heavily armed” and “ready for battle.” He used an AR-15 style semiautomatic rifle. He was killed by police on Friday.

If all of the magazines on his person were loaded, the shooter would have been armed with some 1,300 rounds of ammunition, Santa Monica Police Chief Jaqueline A. Seabrooks said at an afternoon news conference. “Anytime someone puts on a vest … comes out with a bag full of loaded magazines, has an extra receiver, has a handgun and has a semiautomatic rifle, carjacks folks, goes to a college, kills more people and has to be neutralized at the hands of the police, I would say that’s premeditated,” she said.

At least 7 people, including a gunman, were killed in a rampage shooting and arson attack near and on the campus of Santa Monica College, in Santa Monica, California.

The attacks began at a home in Santa Monica, where two people were found dead, and ended in a shootout in the library of Santa Monica College. There, police shot and killed a shooter dressed in black clothing and a ballistic vest.

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 7, 2013: A California Highway Patrol officer guards a classroom door after a gunman went on a shooting rampage in the area. At least seven are dead. One gunman was killed by police in the college library, and another suspect is in custody. Photo: Anthony Citrano.

At least 6 people were reported to have been transported to local hospitals.

The shooting took place a couple of miles away from where President Barack Obama was attending a private fundraising lunch before heading to Palm Springs for a meeting in Rancho Mirage with the president of China.

Local news coverage you can watch live online, here in Los Angeles: KTLA, CBS, ABC, NBC. And Dennis Romero has been liveblogging the story at LA Weekly.