The nine victims of a mass shooting which occurred in San Jose on Wednesday have been identified
Eight of the victims, who ranged from ages 29 to 63, were identified by the Santa Clara County oDce 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 oDce said. They will be honored Thursday night at an event at the San Jose City Hall Plaza.
Among the victims were the gunman’s coworkers at the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). The VTA is a public transit service that operates bus and light rail services in the Santa Clara Valley and employs about 2,000 workers.
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, as another community has been left to make sense of violence that struck close to home.
The killings in San Jose are the latest in a spate of shootings that have struck essential workers in the US, who have tried to stay safe during the Covid-19 pandemic yet were murdered in mass acts of violence.
And much like other previous instances, 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 shoolight rail trains and a maintenance yard, Davis said. It happened as employees from the midnight shift and the day shift overlapped, Davis said.
The shooting occurred in the VTA rail yard at a time when light rail was starting up for the day, VTA Board Chairperson Glenn Hendricks said. The yard is where the VTA vehicles are maintained and dispatched.
Multiple law enforcement agencies and fire department personnel responded using their “active shooter protocol,” Davis said.
Davis said law enforcement officers didn’t exchange gunfire with the gunman and investigators believe he took his own life. “I know for sure that when the suspect knew the law enforcement was there, he took his own life, our deputies ter well,” Mayor Sam Liccardo said. The shooting began just after 6:30 a.m. PT when several 911 calls reported shots fired near a VTA control center, a hub that stores were right there at that time,” Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith. The deputies were there quickly because the sheriff’s office is next door, she added.
Cassidy, the identified gunman, had a strained relationship with an ex-girlfriend, court documents show, which revealed troubling allegations she made in a filing in 2009 as she responded to a restraining order he filed against her.
Cassidy’s ex-wife, Cecilia Nelms, said the Bay Area News Group he resented his work. Nelms was married to Cassidy for about 10 years until the couple filed for divorce in 2005. She has not been in touch with her ex-husband for about 13 years, according to the outlet. He often spoke angrily about his co-workers and bosses, and at times directed his anger at her, Nelms told the outlet. When the two were married, he “resented what he saw as unfair work assignments” and “would rant about his job when he got home.”
Among the victims were the gunman’s coworkers at the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). The VTA is a public transit service that operates bus and light rail services in the Santa Clara Valley and employs about 2,000 workers.
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, as another community has been left to make sense of violence that struck close to home.
The killings in San Jose are the latest in a spate of shootings that have struck essential workers in the US, who have tried to stay safe during the Covid-19 pandemic yet were murdered in mass acts of violence.
And much like other previous instances, 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 shoolight rail trains and a maintenance yard, Davis said. It happened as employees from the midnight shift and the day shift overlapped, Davis said.
The shooting occurred in the VTA rail yard at a time when light rail was starting up for the day, VTA Board Chairperson Glenn Hendricks said. The yard is where the VTA vehicles are maintained and dispatched.
Multiple law enforcement agencies and fire department personnel responded using their “active shooter protocol,” Davis said.
Davis said law enforcement officers didn’t exchange gunfire with the gunman and investigators believe he took his own life.
“I know for sure that when the suspect knew the law enforcement was there, he took his own life, our deputies ter well,” Mayor Sam Liccardo said. The shooting began just after 6:30 a.m. PT when several 911 calls reported shots fired near a VTA control center, a hub that stores were right there at that time,” Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith. The deputies were there quickly because the sheriff’s office is next door, she added.
Cassidy, the identified gunman, had a strained relationship with an ex-girlfriend, court documents show, which revealed troubling allegations she made in a filing in 2009 as she responded to a restraining order he filed against her.
Cassidy’s ex-wife, Cecilia Nelms, said the Bay Area News Group he resented his work. Nelms was married to Cassidy for about 10 years until the couple filed for divorce in 2005. She has not been in touch with her ex-husband for about 13 years, according to the outlet.
He often spoke angrily about his co-workers and bosses, and at times directed his anger at her, Nelms told the outlet.
When the two were married, he “resented what he saw as unfair work assignments” and “would rant about his job when he got home.”
