Shooting spree in east Bakersfield ends with 6 dead
UPDATE (5:26 a.m., Thursday, Sept. 13): House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, of Bakersfield, tweeted about last night's shootings that left five victims and their killer dead in east Bakersfield.
"Judy and I are shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific loss of life in Bakersfield yesterday," he wrote.
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UPDATE (9:30 p.m.): Sheriff Donny Youngblood gave updated information: The two people killed at the Breckenridge Road scene were a man and a woman.
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BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) -- Six people are dead in east Bakersfield after a man went on a shooting rampage.
Kern County deputies responded at 5:20 p.m to reports of shots fired at a trucking company on Manwell Boulevard, near Highway 58 and Weedpatch Highway. What they found was just the beginning of a shooting spree that took place over multiple locations.
The reason behind the shootings is unknown at this time, said Sheriff Donny Youngblood.
It began when the suspect and his wife entered the trucking company, according to Youngblood.
The suspect confronted a man at the trucking company. The suspect then shot and killed his wife and the man, Youngblood said, as he explained the events as they are believed to have happened.
Another man entered the business. The suspect fired at him, and the man fled.
The suspect chased the man out of the trucking business and around to the front of Bear Mountain Sports, where he shot and killed him, Youngblood said.
The suspect then drove to a home on Breckenridge Road, where he confronted two people before shooting and killing them.
The suspect then went to Fillmore Avenue, where he hijacked a car with a woman and child in it. The woman and child were able to escape to safety.
The shooter drove to Edison Highway, where a deputy spotted him. The suspect pulled into a lot.
When the deputy approached him with a weapon, the suspect turned the gun to his chest and shot himself.
“I think it was a very short amount of time, about 10 or 15 minutes,” Youngblood said about the length of time from the first shooting at the trucking business until the suspect shot himself.
Deputies interviewed more than 30 people during the initial investigation. Five search warrants were served.
Only one weapon had been recovered by the time of the press conference.
Youngblood said there were deputies and investigators from multiple departments working on the case.
Youngblood said a murder case of this magnitude is rare.
“Six people lost their lives in a very short period of time. This is highly unusual,” Youngblood said. “This is the new normal, if you look across the country, these types of shootings.”
