A Kern County sheriff's deputy stands near an area where a shooting victim lies, Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018, in Bakersfield, Calif. A gunman killed five people, including his wife, before turning the gun on himself, authorities said. (Felix Adamo/The Bakersfield Californian via AP)Photo Gallery
LOS ANGELES — A gunman went on a rampage, killing his wife and four other people before shooting himself to death, California authorities said.
Kern County sheriff’s Lt. Mark King said Thursday there were “strong indications” of a domestic violence motive in the Wednesday evening rampage. But he said that was still being verified and did not release further details.
The victims were shot at and near a trucking company and then at a residence in Bakersfield, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Los Angeles.
Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood told reporters the shootings were not random.
“Obviously, there is some type of situation that caused the husband to be extremely upset,” he said. “I’m pretty comfortable (saying) there will be a connection between all these players.”
The man first showed up at the company with his wife shortly before 5:30 p.m. where he confronted another man.
“The suspect, the husband, shot the person at the trucking company and then turned and shot his wife” and then chased and shot another man who showed up, Youngblood said.
The gunman then went to a home where he shot and killed a man and a woman, the sheriff said.
KERO-TV, citing information from family members, reported that 57-year-old Eliseo Garcia and his daughter, 32-year-old Laura Garcia, were the victims killed at the home.
After the shooting at the Garcia home, the gunman carjacked a woman who was driving her child. The woman and child escaped and the man drove to a highway where a sheriff’s deputy saw him, Youngblood said.
The gunman saw the deputy and pulled into a parking lot. When the deputy confronted him at gunpoint, the man shot himself in the chest, the sheriff said.
The man’s identity was not immediately made public.
David Bunting, who lives two doors from the Garcia home, said Laura Garcia was a mother of four and her father was a self-employed truck driver who always was with his grandkids when not working, often driving them around on his golf cart.
“He’s a really nice guy. I can’t say enough good things about him,” Bunting said. “It’s kind of a shock because of the kind of a person he was.”
He said most of the large Garcia family was home at the time of the shooting are devastated and in shock.
He said Eliseo Garcia and his wife had four grown children, including a daughter who was killed in a car accident a few years ago.
About 30 people saw the shootings and were being interviewed by deputies, Youngblood said.
Fact-based reporting from the largest newsroom of professional journalists in Southwest Washington. Subscribe today for $99/year
Your tax-deductible donation to The Columbian’s Community Funded Journalism program will contribute to better local reporting on key issues, including homelessness, housing, transportation and the environment. Reporters will focus on narrative, investigative and data-driven storytelling.
Local journalism needs your help. It’s an essential part of a healthy community and a healthy democracy.
