Nine killed in mass shooting at San Jose rail yard

SAN JOSE, Calif. / CNN — The nine victims of a mass shooting in San Jose on Wednesday have been identified as investigators begin the process of figuring out why such a fierce burst of violence happened during the early morning hours at a light rail yard.

Eight of the victims, who ranged from ages 29 to 63, were identified Wednesday by the Santa Clara County Office of the Medical Examiner-Coroner as Paul Delacruz Megia, 42; Taptejdeep Singh, 36; Adrian Balleza, 29; Jose Dejesus Hernandez III, 35; Timothy Michael Romo, 49; Michael Joseph Rudometkin, 40; Abdolvahab Alaghmandan, 63; and Lars Kepler Lane, 63.

A ninth victim, Alex Ward Fritch, age 49, was transported to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in critical condition and died Wednesday evening, the coroner’s office said.

The victims will be honored on Thursday night at an event at the San Jose City Hall Plaza.

Investigators are looking into the gunman’s motive, according to Deputy Russell Davis of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office.

One thing that has become clear is that “the victims and all the colleagues knew the shooter well,” Mayor Sam Liccardo said.

The gunman has been identified as Sam Cassidy, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation confirmed. It appears that he turned the gun on himself after the rampage.

Multiple guns were used in Wednesday’s deadly mass shooting in San Jose, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said at a news conference.

“I know that for many of the families, and some of whom I’ve talked to, when they said goodbye to their spouse this morning, their husband, they didn’t mean goodbye forever. They meant goodbye until dinnertime, and I’m just so sorry,” Rosen said.

Wednesday’s incident was the 232nd shooting in which at least four people were shot in the US so far this year, according to a tally by the Gun Violence Archive.

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