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The four people killed in a shooting in Orange on Wednesday evening had both personal and professional relationships with the suspect, officials said.
The shooting took place around 5:30 p.m. when officers from the Orange Police Department responded to a report of shots fired at a building in 202 W. Lincoln Ave., according to Orange PD spokesperson Lt. Jennifer Amat.
When authorities arrived, police found the doors to the two-story office building, which has an interior courtyard, chained shut from the inside, she said.
Officers exchanged fire with the shooter and eventually forced to open the doors. Inside they found two victims in the yard, with the alleged gunman, who was injured.
Amat identified the suspect as Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez, 44, and said authorities believed he lived in an Anaheim motel. Gaxiola is in critical but stable condition at a local hospital, she said.
The victims include an adult man, two adult women and a 9-year-old boy, according to Amat. Two of the victims were found in the offices of Unified Homes, a mobile home dealership.
The boy – believed to be the son of one of the victims who worked at Unified Homes – was found in the arms of a woman who was also shot dead. She is hospitalized in critical but stable condition, Amat said.
Authorities will release the names of the victims “as soon as they are available,” she said, stressing that the coroner is still working to identify them.
There is video footage that shows Gaxiola inside the company, but it won’t be released immediately, Amat said.
Police recovered a semi-automatic handgun from the scene and a backpack containing pepper spray, handcuffs and ammunition, she said.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer has said Gaxiola may be eligible for the death penalty.
Gaxiola was charged in 2015 with child cruelty, assault with a deadly weapon, deterring a witness from reporting a crime and assault and battery, according to Anaheim city spokesman Mike Lyster.
Gaxiola pleaded guilty to charging the battery and the other charges were dismissed, Lyster said. He was sentenced to one day in prison and the court issued a protection order demanding peaceful contact between Gaxiola and others involved in the case.
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This story will be updated.
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