Shooting spree across Southern California county leaves 4 dead
Investigators walk past a tarp covered body in Orange, Calif., Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013. Police say a chaotic 25-minute shooting spree through Orange County left a trail of dead and injured victims before the shooter killed himself. Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino say there are at least six crime scenes with three people, including the suspected gunman, dead and several others wounded. Tustin police Supervisor Dave Kanoti said the shootings started with an apparent carjacking just after 5 a.m. Tuesday in an unincorporated Ladera Ranch area of Orange County. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A body lays in the intersection of Wanda Road and Katella Avenue early Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013 in Orange County, Calif., as local police agencies investigate the scene. Police say a chaotic 25-minute shooting spree through Orange County left a trail of dead and injured victims before the shooter killed himself. Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino say there are at least six crime scenes with three people, including the suspected gunman, dead and several others wounded. Tustin police Supervisor Dave Kanoti said the shootings started with an apparent carjacking just after 5 a.m. Tuesday in an unincorporated Ladera Ranch area of Orange County. (AP Photo/The Orange County Register, Mark Rightmire) MAGS OUT; LOS ANGELES TIMES OUT
An Orange police officer directs traffic as an investigation of a shooting continues, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013 in Orange County, Calif. Police say a chaotic 25-minute shooting spree through Orange County left a trail of dead and injured victims before the shooter killed himself. Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino say there are at least six crime scenes with three people, including the suspected gunman, dead and several others wounded. Tustin police Supervisor Dave Kanoti said the shootings started with an apparent carjacking just after 5 a.m. Tuesday in an unincorporated Ladera Ranch area of Orange County. (AP Photo/The Orange County Register, Mark Rightmire) MAGS OUT; LOS ANGELES TIMES OUT
A vehicle riddle with bullet holes is part of a crime scene on Red Hills Ave. under the 5 Interstate in Tustin, Calif., Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013. Police say a chaotic 25-minute shooting spree through Orange County left a trail of dead and injured victims before the shooter killed himself. There were multiple crime scenes in Tustin and Orange and many more victims who were shot at but unhurt, said Tustin Lt. Paul Garaven. Tustin is about 35 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
A police investigator looks under a disabled SUV left on Red Hill Ave. in Tustin, Calif., Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013. Police say a chaotic 25-minute shooting spree through Orange County left a trail of dead and injured victims before the shooter killed himself. There were multiple crime scenes in Tustin and Orange and many more victims who were shot at but unhurt, said Tustin Lt. Paul Garaven. Tustin is about 35 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Orange County coroner's officials remove a body from the scene in Orange, Calif., Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013. Police say a chaotic 25-minute shooting spree through Orange County left a trail of dead and injured victims before the shooter killed himself. Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino say there are at least six crime scenes with three people, including the suspected gunman, dead and several others wounded. Tustin police Supervisor Dave Kanoti said the shootings started with an apparent carjacking just after 5 a.m. Tuesday in an unincorporated Ladera Ranch area of Orange County. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The violence stretched across 25 miles in Orange County and was as brutal as it was fast-moving.
In less than an hour, a man in his 20s shot and killed a woman in her home and two commuters during carjackings early yesterday, shot up vehicles on a Southern California freeway and committed suicide as the police closed in on him, authorities said.
One driver was forced from his BMW at a red light, marched to a curb and killed as witnesses watched in horror.
“He was basically executed,” Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said. “There were at least six witnesses.”
It was unclear if the victims knew each other or the shooter, Orange County sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said.
“It might have been a random thing,” he said. “We just don’t know.”
The violence began at 4:45 a.m., when deputies responded to a call in Ladera Ranch, Calif., a sleepy inland town about 55 miles southeast of Los Angeles. They found a woman shot multiple times.
Jason Glass, who lives across the street, said he couldn’t sleep and was watching TV in his garage when he heard what sounded like gun shots.
Then he heard a commotion and the sound of a car speeding away. Hours later, the neighborhood was flooded with the police, and crime scene tape sectioned off the street.
From Ladera Ranch, the police said the gunman headed north and within 30 minutes carjacked a Dodge pickup truck in Tustin, about 20 miles away. The driver was uninjured, but a bystander was hit by gunfire and taken to a hospital.
The suspect then began firing at vehicles in the area where Interstate 5 and State Route 55 connect.
Three people reported being targeted, including one who suffered a minor injury, Tustin police Lt. Paul Garaven said. Two cars were damaged.
When the truck got low on gas, the gunman stopped at State Route 55 and McFadden Avenue in Santa Ana, stole the BMW and killed the driver, Bertagna said.
The shooter then drove to a Tustin business called Micro Center and carjacked another small truck, killing one person and wounding another, Garaven said.
Officers trailed the gunman to Orange, a city about 5 miles away.
As they closed in, the man got out of the vehicle at a busy intersection and shot himself, the police said.
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