ix people were killed in a shooting rampage in Santa Monica, California, that ended Friday with the gunman clad in tactical gear dead in a college library and a "person of interest" in custody, authorities said.
"We are not convinced 100 percent that the suspect who was killed operated in a solo or alone capacity," Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks told reporters.
The comments came as police and firefighters searched the sprawling campus of Santa Monica College for other possible victims or shooters. By early evening, authorities declared the campus clear.
The gunman has not been identified by authorities, Seabrooks said. She described him as a white male between the age of 25 and 35, clad in black and wearing what appeared to be a ballistic vest.
Seabrooks did not identify the person in custody, nor did she explain why authorities wanted to talk to him.
At least three people were wounded in the shootings, which authorities believe began with a house fire and gunshots shortly before noon in a residential neighborhood near the college.
The gunman carjacked a woman, said Jerry Cunningham, who looked out her window after hearing shots fired.
She saw the gunman, and a neighboring house on fire.
The gunman then waved another car by, she said. That driver, a woman, hesitated for just a moment, and the gunman "fired three shots directly into her and the car," Cunningham said. It is not known if that motorist was wounded or dead.
Inside the house, firefighters found the bodies of at least two people, Seabrooks said.
Shooting in Santa Monica
Investigators believe the gunman knew the dead people in the house, but police were unsure of the connection.
The others killed in the rampage were targeted randomly, Seabrooks said.