Police Identify Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez as Mass Shooting Suspect
A 44-year-old man faces multiple charges in connection with a Wednesday murder spree in Orange, California. The victims included a 9-year-old boy.
Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez of Fullerton was charged with four counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and two counts of attempted murder of a police officer, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday, according to KCAL-TV.
The victims were Matthew Farias, 9; Luis Tovar, 50; Jenevieve Raygoza, 28, and Leticia Solis, for whom no age was available. Blanca Tomayo, who is Farias’s mother, was wounded and was listed in critical condition as of Friday.
Update: Victims’ relatives have identified those killed in the Orange shooting as business owner Luis Tovar, his daughter Genevieve Raygoza, Leticia Solis and 9-year-old Matthew Farias, whose mother Blanca Tamayo remains critically wounded https://t.co/hoZbw2SlBP
— KTLA (@KTLA) April 2, 2021
Police said Gonzalez had a “business and personal relationship” with the victims, according to the Los Angeles Times.
#BREAKING Surveillance camera captured image of gunman during deadly shooting rampage at Orange office complex, police sayhttps://t.co/Q5dDA7B4SK
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) April 1, 2021
Mass shooting suspect ID’ed as Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez – 44 yo old Fullerton. Accused of killing a young boy, 2 women and a man. Injured another woman. He’s at hospital with gunshot wound. @cbsla #cbsla #orange #masshooting pic.twitter.com/2Wa2WO7LOV
— michele gile (@michelegiletv) April 1, 2021
The shooting occurred around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday on the second floor of an office for Unified Homes, a manufactured housing business. Police allege that Gonzalez used bike cables to lock the gates to the complex where the office building was located.
Police were fired upon when they arrived at the scene, Orange Police Lt. Jennifer Amat said.
As of Friday, Gonzalez was in critical but stable condition. Amat said it was not clear whether police wounded him or whether his wound was self-inflicted, according to KNBC.
“It is a horrible, horrible tragedy,” Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer said, according to the Times. “[T]hat Mr. Gonzalez made a decision to use deadly force to deal with issues he was dealing with in his life. So he will suffer and face the consequences.”
A semiautomatic handgun was recovered at the scene, as was a backpack that contained pepper spray, handcuffs and ammunition, “which we believe belonged to the suspect,” Amat said.
When news of the shootings emerged, so did a vicious debate over race:
saw the suspect is still alive. must be a white guy. always an angry white cis christian white guy.
— Ginger “no masks after vaccination” Jesus (@avonstringergod) April 1, 2021
“as police wound and arrest the suspect”
Must be a white guy!
— Scott Morrison ? Prime Minister PARODY (@ScomoPM69) April 1, 2021
So are you going to mention the age and race of the shooter ? No must not be a white guy
— samual johnson (@samualjohnson17) April 1, 2021
Tim Smith, who lives near the office complex where the shooting took place, said he heard multiple shots, according to the Times.
He said when he cracked a door he heard a police officer saying, “Don’t move or I will shoot you.”
He then watched the police SWAT team move in.
“The key part about that is that the next sound I heard after those horrible gunshots was an officer trying to protect me,” he said. “It’s scary in the moment with no knowledge, but when you do figure it out and you do get composure, it makes you grateful.”
The motive for the shootings was unclear as of Friday.
“Never in our wildest dreams did we think this could happen,” said Alec Torres, a partner at Unified Homes, who was not at the office during the attack. “We were shocked to find out it was him. There was never any bad blood. He was just a very quiet person.”
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