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SAN JOSE, Calif. A gunman who killed nine people at a California rail yard fired 39 shots and appeared to target some of the victims, a sheriff told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The shooter arrived at the light rail facility for the Valley Transportation Authority in San Jose around 6 a.m. Wednesday with a duffel bag carrying two semi-automatic handguns and 11 high-capacity magazines, Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith said in an interview.
“It appears to us at this point that he said to one of the people there: ‘I’m not going to shoot you,’” Smith said. “And then he shot other people. So I imagine there was some kind of thought on who he wanted to shoot.”
PICTURED: Nine victims of San Jose transit yard shooting, including father-of-two, 36, and a grandpa, 63, as footage shows killer setting off for work with bag full of guns after torching his own home
Samuel Cassidy opened fire shortly before 7am after calmly setting off from home carrying a duffel bag which police believe contained the gun used in the attack at the Valley Transportation Authority rail yard in San Jose
The 57-year-old killed nine colleagues and was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound
A motive has not yet been established but an ex-girlfriend claimed Cassidy had bipolar and was violent
California Killer of 8 Had Talked of Workplace Attacks
Voice of America
27 May 2021, 23:05 GMT+10
SAN JOSE, CALIF. - An employee who gunned down eight people at a California rail yard and then killed himself as law enforcement rushed in had talked about killing people at work more than a decade ago, his ex-wife said. I never believed him, and it never happened. Until now, a tearful Cecilia Nelms told The Associated Press on Wednesday following the 6:30 a.m. attack at a light rail facility for the Valley Transportation Authority. When our deputies went through the door, initially he was still firing rounds. When our deputy saw him, he took his life, Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith told reporters.
Samuel Cassidy, left, was reportedly held by customs officers returning from the Philippines in 2016. He is pictured heading to work to carry out the mass shooting Wednesday, right.