Three people were killed and five hurt in a series of shootings, pistol whippings and carjackings that ended when the suspect killed himself with a shot to the head inside a Wal-Mart, authorities said.
The Ventura County Sheriff's Department identified the gunman as Toby Welchel, 38, whose last known address was in Indiana. The violence began on Monday when three people were shot in the front yard of a home in Thousand Oaks. A woman identified as Jan Heyne, 51, was pronounced dead at the scene, and Steve Mazin, a 52-year-old attorney, died at a hospital. Timothy Heyne, a rock music manager, was in critical condition.
Authorities said Welchel had a business relationship with one of the victims, but they did not elaborate.
The third fatality, a 48-year-old woman, was killed on Tuesday at her home in a separate incident, according to police. Two of her children were among the injured.
After fleeing the first house on Monday, Welchel abandoned his truck and seized another at gunpoint, police said. That truck was found on Tuesday morning, shortly before police received a disturbance call from the woman at a nearby home where Welchel had apparently tried to steal another vehicle.
Sheriff's Deputy Scott Ramirez arrived to find Welchel firing at the woman's husband. The deputy was struck once or twice in the left shoulder area, Sheriff Bob Brooks said.
Ramirez, 30, was hospitalized but was expected to recover. The woman, possibly shot, and two of her children were pistol-whipped, Brooks said.
The woman, identified as Carole Nordella, died from her injuries at a hospital, sheriff's officials said. The children, a 10-year-old boy and 14-year-old girl, were treated for head wounds.
A pool maintenance man, who was beaten for his car, also received hospital treatment.
The suspect was chased by police to the Wal-Mart store in Simi Valley, about 55km northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
About 100 employees and customers were evacuated from the sprawling store as 40 to 50 officers surrounded it. Officers who entered found Welchel dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Brooks said.
Welchel had a criminal record in Florida, Indiana and California, Brooks said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in