Four people are dead, including a child after a shooting at an office building in Southern California, according to media reports.
In a statement, the Orange Police Department said at around 5:30 p.m. local time, officers responded to a call of shots fired at 202 W. Lincoln Ave.
“Officers arrived as shots were being fired and located multiple victims at the scene including fatalities,” the statement reads.
Police said an “officer involved shooting occurred,” but added that the situation has been “stabilized and there is no threat to the public.”
Few details were immediately available from police. However, the Associated Press, The Los Angeles Times, NBC and CBS all reported four people were killed, including a child.
Lt. Jennifer Amat told The Associated Press that the suspect was taken to hospital, but said she didn’t immediately know his condition.
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Amat said the shooting occurred on the second floor of the building.
However, she had no details about the confrontation, what may have sparked the attack or why a child may have been at the building.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the shooting “horrifying and heartbreaking.”
“Our hearts are with the families impacted by this terrible tragedy tonight,” he wrote on Twitter.
In a tweet Wednesday evening, California Rep. Katie Porter said she was “deeply saddened” by reports of the shooting.
“And i’m continuing to keep victims and their loved ones in my thoughts as we continue to learn more,” she wrote. “My team and I will continue to monitor the situation closely.”
The incident in Orange comes just over a week after 10 people were killed in a mass shooting at a grocery store in Boulder, Colo.
Earlier this month, eight people were killed after a gunman opened fire at several massage parlours in Atlanta, Ga.
Speaking at the White House last week, U.S. President Joe Biden said it’s “time to act” on gun control, and urged the Senate to reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban.
Amat told the Associated Press that the shooting was the worst in the city since December 1997, when a gunman armed with an assault rifle attacked a California Department of Transportation maintenance yard. Arturo Reyes Torres, 41, an equipment operator who had been fired six weeks earlier, killed four people and wounded others, including a police officer, before police killed him.
The city of Orange is about 30 miles (48.28 kilometres) southeast of Los Angeles and home to about 140,000 people.
–With files from the Associated Press
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