San Francisco, April 1 : At least four people were killed and two others injured during a shooting incident in the US state of California, according to authorities.
The incident took place on Wednesday evening in the city of Orange, 55 km southeast of Los Angeles, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Orange Police Department said that they responded to reports of a shooting at around 5.30 p.m. and then found “multiple victims at the scene including fatalities” where shots were being fired.
“The situation has been stabilised and there is no threat to the public. More details to follow,” the Department tweeted on Wednesday night.
The four victims were pronounced dead at the scene and two others were transported to nearby hospitals, according to the Metro City Fire Authority Dispatch, an emergency organisation providing fire and emergency medical services to over 1.2 million residents in Southern California.
Video clips posted online by the local ABC 7 news channel showed a business complex, where at least two bodies lay down outside the building, one on a second floor walkway and the other in a courtyard.
At the scene there were also bloody clothes and what appeared to be a weapon as officers investigated.
A witness told ABC 7 that she heard two distinct sets of shots, one apparently the initial shooting and the other the gunfire exchange between the suspect and police.
“I was just in my room hanging out. All of a sudden I heard five to seven gun shots go off,” the witness said.
“And then I waited a couple minutes and the police came. And I heard a few more gunshots go off. It was a lot, quickly. Then the helicopter showed up and it was silent after that.”
Orange police said it was that city’s deadliest shooting since 1997.
Wednesday incident were the latest mass shooting in the last two weeks.
On March 22, 10 people, including one police officer, were killed in a mass shooting at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado.
On March 16, a series of mass shootings occurred at three spas or massage parlours in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia, which killed eight people including six Asian women.(IANS)
