Two dead, several hurt in California shootings: reports

LOS ANGELES: At least two people were killed and three injured Friday in a multiple shooting in California, reports said, as a witness told how an armor-clad gunman opened fire on a motorist at point blank range.

Two bodies were found inside a home which had apparently been set on fire by a man who began shooting at cars, the Los Angeles Times reported, as police said one suspect had been arrested but another may be on the loose.

The shootings, involving multiple crime scenes, occurred in Santa Monica, west of Los Angeles, a few miles away from where President Barack Obama was attending a fundraiser.

One detained suspect was held in the library of Santa Monica College, according to the Los Angeles Times, while live television showed police swarming into the area.

The incident apparently began with the shootings in a nearby house, which was then set on fire.

A witness who lives opposite the house told KTLA 5 television she heard gunfire and rushed out of her house to see a man who had apparently just opened fire inside or on the house, which was beginning to burn.

"There was a guy standing on the street in front of my house, in full SWAT gear, with a belt full of ammunition and a semi-automatic rifle," said the woman, who the channel identified as Gerry Cunningham.

She described how he walked to a nearby intersection, "pointed the gun at a woman in a car and told her to pull over, which she did.

"Then the woman behind her in a car, he waved her through with the gun, and she kinda hesitated, she kinda slowed down, and he just fired like three or four shots point blank into her in the car," she said.

Nearby schools and campuses were put on lockdown, police said amid confusion over whether an additional gunman could be at large.

California Highway Patrol (CHP) spokeswoman Denise Joslin said there was a surge of 911 calls shortly before midday from around the college.

"We had multiple witnesses call in to report having seen a male adult holding several weapons and firing into cars and at a bus," she told CNN television.

Speaking to the local ABC7 channel, Joslin added: "It appears they do have one suspect in custody.

"However calls have continued to come in since then that there are possible additional shots fired and the possibility of a second suspect," she told the television station.

She added that she only knew of one person injured, but KCAL9 television reported that three people were taken to a local hospital, two of them in critical condition and one in serious condition.

KCAL9 showed video of police leading a man in handcuffs away from the scene and taking him away in a car. He did not appear to be injured.

One student told ABC7 he heard the gunfire. "I was near the bookstore when I heard 15 or 20 more shots," said the unidentified student.

"I stopped and went into the Theater Arts building... I'm extremely shaken." Obama, on his way to a desert summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, was in Santa Monica speaking at a Democratic fundraiser several miles from the scene of the shooting.

"We are aware of the incident and it is not impacting the visit. It's a local police matter at this point," Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan told a pool reporter traveling with Obama.