Santa Monica shooting details released by police
(CBS News) SANTA MONICA, Calif. - What prompted Friday's rampage in Santa Monica is still unclear, but on Saturday there was ample evidence of what the gunman had on him.
"He was armed with a .223 semi-automatic rifle, similar in type to an AR-15," said Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrook. "He was in possession of multiple loaded magazines, a handgun and the upper receiver for an automatic rifle."
Seabrook remained tight-lipped about the investigation, not releasing the names of the shooter or most of the victims.
The attacks began just before noon at a house on Yorkshire Avenue. The gunman killed two family members, then set the home on fire.
Next he shot at one passing motorist and carjacked another. She was forced to drive as he fired randomly and repeatedly.
Dozens of rounds struck a city bus, injuring several passengers. The gunman ordered the carjack victim to keep driving.
"He told her he'd kill her," said Seabrook. "She was obviously terrified."
About eight blocks away, just outside Santa Monica College, he fired at a Ford Explorer, which then crashed into a wall. The driver died; his passenger was gravely wounded.
Then, a gunbattle with police on campus. He killed a woman outside the library, and then police describe a potential nightmare.
"The suspect entered the library; he attempted to kill several library patrons who were hiding in a safe room," said Seabrook. "It's miraculous that those individuals were not physically injured."
Police say the gunman fired 70 shots inside the library before he was shot dead by authorities. There were nine crime scenes in all, hundreds of bullet holes, people still in shock.
"I would presume that anytime someone puts on a vest of some sort, comes out with a bag full of loaded magazines, carjacks folks, goes to a college, kills more people, and has to be neutralized at the hands of the police, I would say that that's premeditated," Seabrook said.
The delay of releasing the suspect's name is because police want to notify his mother first, and she is out of the country.
But they did reveal that Saturday would have been the shooter's 24th birthday.
