SAN DIEGO (AP) – Police shot and killed a 49-year-old man suspected of shooting seven people Sunday at a birthday pool party in an apartment complex near the University of California, San Diego, authorities said.
Four women and three men were taken to hospitals with gunshot wounds, Chief Shelley Zimmerman said at a news conference. One of the women later died.
Rikky Galiendes, 27, heard gunshots around 6 p.m.and went to look outside his sixth-story apartment when he spotted a man bleeding and running near the pool below. Galiendes told The Associated Press that he called out to ask if the man needed help when his roommate grabbed him, yanked him down and then pointed toward a man sitting in a chair with a gun.
“When we looked over the balcony, he was just sitting down with a gun on his lap,” Galiendes said. “He was calm, you know. I mean from my perspective, the guy was ready to do whatever he was going to do. He shot at people having a good time and having a party.”
Galiendes and his roommate ran back inside and called police. They stayed indoors until neighbors yelled that it was safe to come out. Galiendes said it was a horrifying scene.