Cook's Corner: Suspected gunman in deadly OC biker bar shooting identified

At least three people died and six others were hospitalized after a shooter opened fire at a historic biker bar in Trabuco Canyon Wednesday evening. The gunman also died at the scene after being shot by responding sheriff's deputies.

The suspected gunman was identified as 59-year-old John Snowling, a retired Ventura Police Department sergeant, according to a spokesperson for the Orange County District Attorney's office. Snowling began his career with the Ventura Police Department in 1986 and retired in February 2014.  

He traveled from Ohio to Trabuco Canyon before opening fire at Cook's Corner, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

The Ventura Police Department released a statement that said, "Our hearts weigh heavy with the distressing incident at Cook's Corner," shared Chief Darin Schindler of the Ventura Police Department. "Our deepest condolences are with the families of the victims, the survivors, and the Orange County deputies who swiftly responded to the scene. This incident deeply affects us all."

The shooting happened around 7 p.m. at Cook's Corner in the 19100 block of Santiago Canyon Road. According to the OCSD, Snowling was taken down within 4 minutes after the shooting was reported.

Authorities said the incident started as a domestic dispute between Snowling and his wife, who was one of the victims shot and hospitalized. His wife was known to frequent the bar and sources said the couple was in the midst of a divorce.

Six people were hospitalized after the shooting and taken to the Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo. Two of those victims are in critical condition, according to the hospital. Snowling's wife was shot in the jaw and was initially listed in critical condition at Providence Mission Hospital before being transferred to the UCI Medical Center in Orange overnight.

The other critically injured patient is a man who was shot in the chest, according to Providence Mission Hospital. He remains in critical, but stable condition.

The other four patients taken to Providence Mission were all men. One of them was released Wednesday night, two others were expected to go home Thursday and the fourth, who was shot in an arm, was scheduled to undergo surgery Thursday, according to the hospital.

John Leehey, a 67-year-old landscape architect, was one of the victims killed in the mass shooting. The names of the two others who died have not been released yet. 

OCSD deputies searched Snowling's Camarillo home Thursday. They did not release what they found inside.