Suspect In Orange Mass Shooting Charged With 4 Counts Of Murder, Remains Hospitalized
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A Fullerton man has been charged with several counts of murder in a mass shooting at an Orange office complex Wednesday that left four people dead, including a 9-year-old boy, and which authorities believe was not a random act of violence.
Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez, 44, was charged with four counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and two counts of attempted murder of a police officer, the Orange County District Attorney's Office announced Friday.
"Our kids grew up together playing soccer," said Carmen Medina, a friend of one of the victims.
He also faces a special circumstance of multiple murders, making him eligible for the death penalty.
He faces multiple felony enhancements for personal discharge of a firearm causing death and great bodily injury, premeditation, personal use of a firearm and personal discharge of a firearm.
During a hearing from his hospital bed Friday afternoon, Gonzalez's attorney said he has been unconscious since being shot and has not been able to speak since the shooting occurred.
The hearing was continued until Monday when authorities will see if his condition has changed.
Gonzalez was ordered remanded to the custody of the sheriff with no bail.
In addition to the four deceased victims, a woman who was also shot remained hospitalized in critical condition.
Three of the four deceased victims were identified by authorities Friday as 50-year-old Luis Tovar, 28-year-old Jenevieve Raygoza, and 9-year-old Matthew Farias. The fourth victim was identified by family members as Leticia Solis.
The woman who was critically wounded was identified by family as Blanca Tomayo. Family members disclosed that she is Farias' mother.
They also confirmed that all the victims knew Gonzalez through business or personal relationships.
The estranged wife of the suspect said she cannot fathom why her husband targeted her former coworkers. She worked at the business but had quit two years prior to the shooting. She said her former coworkers treated her like family for more than a decade.
"Why someone would do something like this," Adam Litwin, an Orange resident. "What could bring somebody to point a gun at other people and take their lives especially a child."
The shooting occurred around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday evening on the second floor of the office building at 202 West Lincoln Avenue. Gonzalez was armed with a semi-automatic handgun, prosecutors said.
In a media briefing Thursday, a police spokesperson said officers had a difficult time entering the business park because both gates had been locked from the inside.
O.C. District Attorney Todd Spitzer said officers wounded Gonzalez in the building's courtyard. The shooting happened at two business suites belonging to Unified Homes, a real estate business.
A woman who says she's a family member of one of the victims says that Gonzalez was at one point married to an agent who left the business two years ago, according to CBSLA's Rick Montanez.
"Never in our wildest dreams did we think this could happen," said Alec Torres, a partner at Unified Homes, who was not in the office when the attack happened. "We were shocked to find out it was him. There was never any bad blood. He was just a very quiet person."
Investigators still don't have any information on why Gonzalez wanted to attack the victims.
Police said Gonzalez lived in a motel nearby and drove a rental car to the shooting location.
