LAHORE MIRROR (Monitoring Desk)– Authorities in the US state of California say eight people have been killed and several others injured in a mass shooting at a train yard in San Jose.
The alleged gunman is also dead, according to local officials.
The shooting happened at the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), the city’s transit service, early on Wednesday morning.
The rail yard is located next door to the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department.
“I can confirm at this point, that there are eight victims that are pronounced deceased,” Sheriff’s Deputy Russell Davis told reporters. He said that the alleged attacker, confirmed to be a VTA employee, is also dead. There are also multiple victims with “major injuries” currently being treated, he said.
Multiple local news outlets identified the alleged shooter as 57-year-old Samuel Cassidy, who reportedly was a technician at the rail yard. Authorities have not yet confirmed the shooter’s name.
Davis added that the sheriff’s department’s bomb squad is searching the scene of the shooting after they “received information that there are explosive devices that are located” at the rail yard.
A mother of a VTA employee told KTVU that her son said the shooting occurred during a union meeting, though authorities have not confirmed that report.
Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) workers wait out side the Santa Clara Sheriff’s offices as police secure the scene of a mass shooting at a rail yard run by the VTA in San Jose, California, May 26, 2021 [Peter DaSilva/Reuters]Davis said the first calls of the shooting came in at 6:34am local time (13:34 GMT).“A shooting at the VTA facility on Younger St has left several people being treated, but the situation is still being assessed,” San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo tweeted shortly after 8am (15:00 GMT).
“The shooter is no longer a threat, and the facility has been evacuated.”
Liccardo also later confirmed the death of the attacker.
“We are in a very dark moment,” Liccardo said. “We will do everything possible to ensure this never happens again in our city.”
Glenn Hendricks, the chairman of the VTA board of directors, said the shooting happened in the light rail maintenance yard, where vehicles are repaired and dispatched, not inside the train system’s operations control centre.
The city of San Jose, which has a population of just over one million, is located about 67km (42 miles) southeast of San Francisco and is in the heart of Silicon Valley. The region is a major technology hub and home to Apple, Facebook and Google, among many other tech companies.
Mass shootings becoming common in US
Wednesday’s mass shooting is the latest in what has become a common occurrence in the United States.
Nearly 40,000 Americans die each year from guns, with half of that total being suicides. US legislators regularly promise, but continually fail, to pass meaningful gun law reforms.
In recent years, Democrats have called for universal background checks, which are broadly popular among Americans, as well as a ban on military-style “assault” weapons, however, conservatives remain steadfastly against strict, new gun control measures.
Following the Indianapolis shooting last month, President Joe Biden declared, “This has to end. It’s a national embarrassment” before calling on Congress to ban assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines.
The president’s staff is monitoring Wednesday’s situation, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
“Our hearts go out to the victims and their families,” she said.
