Firefighter guns down colleagues inside fire station
A firefighter has shot a colleague to death and severely wounded another during a shooting at a firehouse in Los Angeles.
The shooting erupted shortly before 11am local time on Tuesday at a fire station in the high desert community of Agua Dulce, about 45 miles north of Los Angeles, according to fire department and county sheriff's department officials.
Authorities said they had yet to determine a possible motive. The suspected gunman was identified only as an off-duty fireman who had returned to the station for unknown reasons and then opened fire on his two co-workers there.
One victim, a 44-year-old fire engineer with more than 20 years on the department, was pronounced dead at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds to his upper torso, county Fire Chief Daryl Osby told a news conference hours later.
The second victim, a 54-year-old fire captain, was listed in critical but stable condition at an area hospital where he underwent emergency surgery, officials said.
Sheriff's deputies sent to the suspect's home shortly after the shooting found the house engulfed in flames.
They also spotted the body of a man in a small pool outside the residence who was believed to be the gunman, authorities said.
Sheriff's officials said no gunshots were fired by law enforcement.
The suspect's home in Acton, about 16km southeast of the fire station, was reduced to rubble by the fire, apparently set by the gunman after the shooting, authorities said.
"Today is truly a sad day and a tragic day for the Los Angeles County Fire Department," Chief Osby told reporters, calling the deadly outburst of workplace gun violence on his force "some of the worst news I've received in my career".
Friends and family identified the man shot dead as Tory Carlon, ABC7 reported.
On Tuesday night, they gathered to pay tribute to him with a candlelit vigil.
"When it comes to being a father, when it comes to being a fireman, when it comes to being a mentor, there was nobody that could parallel that," one man said at the vigil.
with Reuters
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