Aug. 24 (UPI) — At least four people were killed, including the suspected gunman, in a shooting Wednesday evening at a popular biker bar in Southern California, authorities said.
The gunman and three others were killed and at least six more were hospitalized, five with gunshot wounds, following the shooting that erupted at around 7 p.m. at the Cook’s Corner bar in Trabuco Canyon, authorities said during a late Wednesday press conference.
Orange County Undersheriff Jeff Hallock told reporters that the gunman “may be retired law enforcement” and that he died following “a deputy-involved shooting” involving multiple deputies, none of whom were injured.
“It is obviously a horrible and a tragic situation. These types of shootings are not commonplace here in Orange County,” he said.
Hallock said deputies arrived at the scene at about 7:06 p.m. following calls to emergency services of shots fired and confronted the armed suspect on the scene two minutes later.
At least one weapon was recovered, he said.
Orange County fire chief Brian Fennessy said of the six people transported to local trauma centers, two were listed in critical condition. The four other victims were stable, he said.
No information about the identities of the victims was yet available.
The office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said it was monitoring the shooting and coordinating with local officials.
“I’m devastated by news of yet another mass shooting tonight, this time at Cook’s Corner, a historic bar in the heart of Orange County,” California state Sen. Dave Min said in a statement.
“Our district is one of the safest areas in the country, and yet we too are repeatedly afflicted with the scourge of mass shootings,” the Democrat continued.
“There is no place in America that is safe from the scourge of gun violence. There is no community not affected.”
According to The Gun Violence Archive, a non-advocacy organization tallying U.S. gun violence statistics, the incident was the United States’ 465th mass shooting of the year.