Police: Gunman killed 4 in California shootings

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Police lowered the death toll from a shooting spree in the seaside California town of Santa Monica on Friday to four in addition to the gunman, who was shot dead by police in a community college library.

Two people were killed at a residence and two others were shot later at separate locations before the gunman was killed, said Santa Monica Police Sergeant Richard Lewis. Police had earlier put the death toll at six plus the gunman.

The body of a man believed to be the suspect in a shooting incident at Santa Monica College lies on the sidewalk in Santa Monica, Calfornia, June 7, 2013. Police report the gunman killed at least six people before he was shot to death.[Photo/Agencies]

SANTA MONICA, California - A gunman with an assault-style rifle killed at least six people in Santa Monica on Friday before police shot him to death in a gunfight in a college library, authorities said.

Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks told reporters the rampage began at a house in the coastal city before the gunman, dressed all in black, made his way to Santa Monica College.

Seabrooks said he killed two people in the house, which caught fire, two more people as he moved several blocks toward the campus, and then two more on campus.

He entered the library and fired on other people but didn't hit them, 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," Seabrooks said.

She identified the gunman as 25 to 30 years old and dressed all in black, 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 by law enforcement officers. He did not appear to be wounded.

"We are not convinced 100 percent that the suspect who was killed operated in a solo or alone capacity," Seabrooks said.

All of this unfolded about 3 miles (5 kilometers) from where US President Barack Obama was attending a fundraising luncheon.

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

A vehicle sits on the side of a road with a window shattered by bullets that an eyewitness says is connected to a shooting a few blocks away on the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, June 7, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

Three other women went to UCLA Medical Center Santa Monica with relatively minor injuries, Morgan said. One has shrapnel-type injuries and the two others had injuries not related to gunfire, he said.

Jeff Furrows of the Santa Monica Fire Department said there was extensive fire 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 onto her porch to see a man shooting at the residence. Soon, the building erupted in flames and was billowing smoke.

The gunman, dressed in black and wearing an ammunition belt, went to the corner and pointed a rifle at a woman in a car and told her to pull over, Rathner said. He then signaled 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 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," Cunningham said.

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