Child among 4 dead in shooting at Southern California office building

ORANGE, Calif. (NewsNation Now) — A child was among four people killed Wednesday in a shooting at a Southern California office building that left a fifth victim and the gunman critically wounded, police said.

The events in the city of Orange, 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles, was the nation’s third mass shooting in just over two weeks.

When police arrived at the two-story structure around 5:30 p.m. shots were being fired, Orange Police Lt. Jennifer Amat said. At least one officer opened fire and the suspect was taken to a hospital, Amat said.

It’s unclear if the suspect suffered a self-inflicted wound or was shot by police. Police provided no details on the victims other than to say one was a child and a woman was critically wounded.

The shooting was still active when officers arrived on scene, Amat said, adding that at least one officer opened fire on the gunman. As of 8 p.m. PST Wednesday Amat said there was no information on the child’s age, or any identifying information on the others shot.

One woman was injured and is in the hospital, the lieutenant said, adding that the shooter was also transported to a hospital after being taken into custody. Both were in critical condition and suffered gunshot wounds.

Amat had no information about what may have prompted the attack at the building at 202 W. Lincoln Ave.. She said the shooting occurred on both levels of the building. Signs outside indicated a handful of businesses were located there, including an insurance office, a financial consulting firm, a legal services business and a phone repair store.

NewsNation affiliate KTLA was over the scene and footage from the scene showed multiple agencies responding and dozens of officers. Authorities could be seen trying to resuscitate a woman.

Paul Tovar told KTLA that his brother owns a business there, Unified Homes, a mobile home broker. “He’s not answering his phone, neither’s my niece,” Tovar said. “I’m pretty scared and worried … right now I’m just praying really hard.”

In a tweet, Gov. Gavin Newsom called the killings “horrifying and heartbreaking.”

“Our hearts are with the families impacted by this terrible tragedy tonight,” he wrote.

Rep. Katie Porter, a California Democrat whose district includes the city of Orange, said she was deeply saddened by the shooting.

“I’m deeply saddened by reports of a mass shooting in Orange County, and I’m continuing to keep victims and their loved ones in my thoughts as we continue to learn more,” Porter tweeted. “My team and I will continue to monitor the situation closely.”

The killings were the latest mass shooting in the United States in the last two weeks. Ten people were killed in a Boulder, Colorado, supermarket last week and eight people were fatally shot — including six Asian women — in three Atlanta-area spas the week before that.

Amat said the shooting was the worst in the city since December 1997, when a gunman armed with an assault rifle attacked a California Department of Transportation maintenance yard. Arturo Reyes Torres, 41, an equipment operator who had been fired six weeks earlier, killed four people and wounded others, including a police officer, before police killed him.

The city of Orange is about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles and home to about 140,000 people.

Check back for updates on this developing story.