Shootings occurred in Santa Monica at multiple locations, one at Santa Monica College reportedly in the library, another occurring on the street at Pico near Cloverfield firing into some vehicles, at a Big Blue bus, and into a building, another at a local home, which was burned with two men dead inside—believed to be the gunman’s brother and father.
The shooting reportedly began just before noon. At 5 pm, at least 7 were said to be dead, others being treated at UCLA, and various local hospitals. But at a press conference around 8:30 pm Friday night, Santa Monica PD corrected the number of dead to 5—meaning four plus the shooter, who was again confirmed as being among the dead.
As mentioned above, in a related event, the shooter reportedly set fire to a house before going on the move and beginning shooting.
Two men are reportedly dead inside the torched house.
In addition to the dead shooter, another man was initially arrested, and then released late on Friday, after being entirely cleared of any involvement. (For much of the afternoon, police were looking for another possible suspect, or at the very least someone who aided the shooter. Later that idea seemed to be dropped as the shooter’s activities began to be better accounted for.)
The dead gunman has been described by witnesses as being white, 5’10” dressed all in black with a protective vest, probable head covering, armed with at least one assault rifle.
Santa Monica Police Department is the lead agency on the shootings, with LAPD, Los Angeles Sheriffs, the CHP and possibly Beverly Hills Police assisting, and a mobile FBI unit on the scene.
WLA will only check in occasionally from here on out. So for live updates:
ABC 7 has live video.
KPCC is doing special coverage.
The LA Times has multiple reporters on the ground doing regular updates.
LA Weekly’s Dennis Romero is also doing live updates with newest posts added at the bottom.
For AM Radio tune to KFI radio.