The man who opened fire, killing eight people on Wednesday morning at a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority rail yard in California is Samuel Cassidy, 57, according to authorities in a San Jose Spotlight report and sources from other outlets. The victims have not yet been identified.
Authorities have not released information about a suspected motive, but Cassidy was reportedly a technician at the rail yard.
Officials said a gunman opened fire at the rail yard early Wednesday, killing eight people, authorities said. He died at the scene.
5) @NBCBayArea has obtained a photo of the suspected shooter, Samuel Cassidy:
He, like his victims, was a #VTA employee, so he worked alongside the 8 people he killed.
He opened fire at a VTA train maintenance yard in San Jose, California. pic.twitter.com/5ngeWiYC43
— Bigad Shaban (@BigadShaban) May 26, 2021
Officials previously said his cause of death had yet to be determined, but there was reporting said he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen later said the gunman died by suicide.
Update: @SCCoSheriff spox confirms multiple deaths and injuries and that shooter is dead. We’ve been told the shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Shooting happened during busiest time of the day at railyard. Victim reunification is at Sheriff HQ. No active threat https://t.co/oQXTtNGuOb
— Robert Salonga (@robertsalonga) May 26, 2021
There was a fire at the suspect’s home at the same time as the shooting, said Mayor Sam Liccardo (D), according to KTVU.
Update: @SCCoSheriff spox confirms multiple deaths and injuries and that shooter is dead. We’ve been told the shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Shooting happened during busiest time of the day at railyard. Victim reunification is at Sheriff HQ. No active threat https://t.co/oQXTtNGuOb
— Robert Salonga (@robertsalonga) May 26, 2021
Firefighters and bomb squad responded.
Latest: Media and others are being pushed out further out from suspected shooter’s house on Angmar Court, we’re told by police for safety reasons related to explosives. 1-block evac order. Happened a couple of minutes after this bomb tech went into the house. Photo by @AricCrabb https://t.co/P1pGIsn30E pic.twitter.com/mhvjxD2oKk
— Robert Salonga (@robertsalonga) May 26, 2021
The mother of a VTA employee said her son thought the suspect was “strange,” she told KTVU. People in Cassidy’s neighborhood said he was a loner. The local news outlet got in touch with his ex-wife, who said she lived with him for 10 years at the home, but she did not have much contact with him since their divorce in 2009. She otherwise declined to go into detail about their lives.
[Screengrab via KTVU]
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