One person died while another one is injured after an off-duty firefighter shot the two victims at a Los Angeles County fire station on Tuesday morning, officials announced during a news conference.
Officials said the suspect is a firefighter specialist and engineer and was found dead 10 miles away from the scene of the crime inside a burning home. Authorities did not reveal the identities of the suspect or the victims.
Off-Duty Shooting
The incident occurred at around 10:50 a.m. and officials received reports of gunfire at Fire Station 81 Agua Dulce, California. Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby said when first responders arrived at the scene, they discovered a 44-year-old man with gunshot wounds to his torso and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Osby said one of the victims was a 54-year-old LAFD captain who was immediately taken to a local hospital and is in critical but stable condition.
“As a fire chief, I’ve dealt with a lot of death and lot of fallen members of our department and I always prayed we would never have a line-of-duty death. I never thought that if it occurred it would occur in this fashion,” Osby said.
The fire chief said the alleged gunman was not scheduled to work on Tuesday. He added the three people involved all worked different shifts, CNN reported.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department homicide bureau’s Brandon Dean said witness testimonies revealed the name and vehicle description of the suspect. Investigators were then able to locate the residence in Acton which was found burning at the time.
