Eight people were killed Wednesday morning in a shooting in San José, California.
The alleged shooter, who died, was an employee of the targeted public transport company, the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA).
A public transport company employee killed at least eight people on Wednesday at the company's San José, Calif., Site, police said, the latest example of gun violence in the United States. .
"I can confirm that eight people are now dead," said Russell Davis, of the Santa Clara County Police Department, warning that the death toll could rise.
The alleged dead shooter
The alleged shooter, who died, was an employee of the targeted public transport company, the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), said Russell Davis, without giving the circumstances of his death. "We received information indicating that explosive devices would be inside the building," he added, explaining that a team of deminers was on site to search the premises and ensure "that security of the public is assured ".
The shooting took place Wednesday morning around 6:45 a.m. near an ATV maintenance and storage center in San José, a Californian city south of San Francisco.
VTA employees are "among the victims", according to the police, who did not specify their number.
The site has been evacuated and the "seriousness of the injuries" is being assessed, the company said on Twitter.
In front of the maintenance center were dozens of police and rescue vehicles, as well as FBI agents.
A series of shootings
"Our thoughts are with the victims and their families," reacted Karine Jean-Pierre, a spokesperson for the White House.
"What is clear, as the president said, is that we are suffering from an epidemic of gun violence in this country."
"It is a very dark time for our city and its people, but we have seen how people can stick together in these very difficult times," said the mayor of San José, Sam Liccardo.
“Our hearts and love are with the VTA family, the organization and what they have gone through,” said very moved Glenn Hendricks, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company.
"It is a horrible tragedy which has occurred", he lamented.
A series of shootings have plagued the United States in recent months, including at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis, in an office building in California, in a supermarket in Boulder (Colorado) and in several massage parlors in Atlanta.
Last weekend, 12 people were shot dead and around 50 injured across the country in a surge in gun violence.
Joe Biden unveiled in early April measures to limit the proliferation of firearms in the United States.
Violence by firearms is "an international disgrace", had lambasted the Democratic president.
Since the start of 2021, firearms have killed more than 17,635 people in the United States, including suicides, and 231 shootings with multiple victims have been recorded, according to the Gun Violence Archive site.