![]() Little did she know that the gunman began his rampage at a house close to where she lives with her mother, Carmen. Jasmine Franco, 22, was in a classroom at Santa Monica College – next to the library – waiting for her English class to start at noon on Thursday. The gunman then abandoned the hijacked vehicle – leaving the driver unhurt – and ran, shooting at police, Lewis said. Franco’s vehicle crashed after the shooting. He was carrying an “AR-15 style rifle,” pistols and more clips for the rifle, Lewis said.Īs the car pulled onto the campus, the man fired into Franco’s red SUV, killing him and critically wounding his daughter, police said. Richard Lewis said.Īs the car headed toward the campus of the community college, where 30,000 students are registered, he opened fire on a passing bus, slightly wounding three people, Lewis said. The gunman then got into the first car and forced the woman to drive off with him, police said.ĭuring their ride, 911 calls poured in, keeping police on the gunman’s path, Santa Monica police Sgt. Authorities said that driver was hospitalized and is in stable condition. The motorist was wounded in the shoulder, she said. That driver, also a woman, hesitated for just a moment, and the gunman “fired three shots directly into her and the car,” Cunningham said. She then saw the gunman force a woman to stop her car at gunpoint.Īnother car approached. She saw the gunman firing at a neighboring house that was on fire. Jerry Cunningham stepped onto her porch when she heard the shots. IReporter: There was a body on the corner Investigators are still trying to determine the motive in the shootings that also left four people wounded. His apparently random gunfire became the nation’s latest disturbing killing spree, ending with his death in the college library and leaving this tourist beachfront city reeling with shock. Because he was wearing a ballistic vest and was heavily armed, “I would say it’s premeditated,” she said. Seabrooks estimated the gunman had about 1,300 rounds of ammunition during the rampage. The assailant dressed in black and carried an assault-style rifle. One of the five people killed was shot outside the library of the school, college Police Chief Albert Vasquez said. The 13-minute shooting spree that followed spanned several parts of Santa Monica. Source: Santa Monica gunman previously hospitalized for mental healthĪuthorities believe the house was set on fire before Sam and Chris Zawahri were shot. The gunman and a family member had been enrolled in Santa Monica College as recently as 2010. It’s also unclear under what circumstances he was released.Īuthorities have found no link to domestic or international terrorism, the official added. It’s not clear whether the state government or his family committed him for treatment or whether he committed himself. A few years ago, he was hospitalized for treatment after allegedly talking about harming someone, according to the official. Police had contact with the Zawahri in 2006, but because he was a juvenile, authorities couldn’t release further information, Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks said.Ī law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN on Saturday that the gunman had suffered from mental health issues. “We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragedy that … once again, shatters our nation’s confidence,” Superintendent Sandra Lyon said. The superintendent of the Santa Monica-Malibu school district said Zawahri attended a high school for students behind in academic credits in 2006. Scant details are trickling in about Zawahri, who was killed by police at Santa Monica College on Friday – the day before his 24th birthday. The suspect in the shootings has been identified by Santa Monica police as John Zawahri.Īuthorities say he killed his father, Samir “Sam” Zawahri, and brother, Chris Zawahri, in a Santa Monica house before carjacking a woman and firing at a public bus on Friday. John Zawahri in a 2006 yearbook photo from Santa Monica High School.
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