In the US state of California, several people have again become victims of deadly gun violence: this time it hit a rural community in the north of the west coast state. Seven people were killed at two crime scenes in Half Moon Bay on Monday. Another person was critically injured, the police said on Monday evening (local time).
The suspected shooter, a 67-year-old man, was arrested, Sheriff Christina Corpus said at a news conference. The motive for the crime is not known. Investigators believe the man acted alone.
The crime took place in an agricultural region south of San Francisco. The man fired shots at a farm, among other things, it said. They found four bodies and a seriously injured gunshot victim at a crime scene, Corpus said. Nearby, in another company, three people were killed by gunfire.
Suspect in police custody
The suspect later drove his vehicle to a police station and was taken into custody in the parking lot. Investigators believe the man worked at one of the factories. The victims would probably be other farm workers, it said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom expressed his dismay on Monday. "Tragedy upon tragedy," the Democrat wrote on Twitter. He met people injured in the Monterey Park incident in the hospital on Monday when he was informed of the next shooting in Half Moon Bay, the politician said. Newsom has long advocated tougher gun laws.
Two dead teenagers in Iowa
Two students aged 16 and 18 also died at a center for young people in the US state of Iowa. Another man was seriously injured in the incident in the city of Des Moines, local police said. It is about the 49-year-old founder of the facility, who was still trying to stop the shooter.
Shortly after the shots were fired on Monday afternoon, three suspects were arrested, it was said. One of them, an 18-year-old, was charged with, among other things, double murder and attempted murder of a third person. It was said he was in possession of a handgun. Due to another, unspecified weapon offence, he wore an electronic ankle bracelet, which he removed about 16 minutes before the crime. Both the alleged perpetrator and the two victims are members of rival gangs. The motive for the crime was conflicts between the groups, it said.
