California shooting rampage that killed 4 was premeditated

Investigators trying to determine why a gunman planned a shooting spree that killed four people, were focusing on a deadly act of domestic violence that touched off the mayhem.

The heavily armed man’s attack against his own family led to Friday’s violence in Santa Monica streets, lasting just a matter of minutes until he was shot to death in a chaotic scene at a college library by police.

Investigators were looking at family connections to find a motive because the killer’s father and brother were the first victims, an official briefed on the probe who requested anonymity because he wasn’t authorised to speak publicly told The Associated Press.

The killer, who died a day shy of his 24th birthday, was connected to the home that went up in flames after the first shootings, said Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks. She refused to elaborate or name the suspect because a surviving family member was out of the country and couldn’t immediately be notified.

Standing next to the weapons and ammo found at multiple crime scenes, Seabrooks said at a Saturday news conference that the “cowardly murderer” planned the attack and was capable of firing 1,300 rounds.

“Any time someone puts on a vest, of some sort, comes out with a bag full of loaded magazines, has an extra receiver, has a handgun and has a semi-automatic rifle, carjacks folks, goes to a college, kills more people and has to be neutralised at the hands of the police, I would say that that’s premeditated,” she said.