"Santa" opend fire at party...

[April78945]

'Santa' opens fire at Calif. party; 3 dead
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Digg Facebook Newsvine del.icio.us Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati Yahoo! Bookmarks Print By CHRISTINA HOAG, Associated Press Writer Christina Hoag, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 21 mins ago AP – Bruce Jeffrey Pardo is seen in an undated photo provided Thursday, Dec. 25, 2008, by the Covina, Calif. … COVINA, Calif. – A man dressed as Santa Claus opened fire at a Christmas Eve party in a suburban Los Angeles home that subsequently caught fire, leaving three people dead, police said Thursday.

Police said they were seeking a person of interest, 45-year-old Bruce Jeffrey Pardo. Pardo, described by police as armed and dangerous, is the estranged husband of a person who may have been at the party.

"He was going through some type of marital problems, and we believe that this residence is a relative's residence," Lt. Pat Buchanan said.

The gunman arrived at the party in Covina late Wednesday and immediately opened fire with a handgun, Buchanan said. Witnesses told police that the man took off the Santa suit and left the scene in street clothes.

Buchanan says three bodies were found after the fire was put out. He could not say how the fire started or how the three people died.

Buchanan also said police expected to name Pardo as a suspect later Thursday.

[atprm]

that's really sad.

There are too many idiots today.

[atprm]

just saw the article -- he killed himself... I guess they aren't looking for him anymore, AND the world will never know why he did what he did for sure.

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20081225/capt.a8c339d281f34317894cf1184be58d75.santa_shooti ng_ny108.jpg
COVINA, Calif. – Coroner's officials say there are "several" more bodies in the ashes of a Christmas Eve party shooting at a house in a Los Angeles suburb that subsequently caught fire.

Assistant Chief Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office said Thursday investigators sifting through the ashes of the house have come across more dead than the three bodies already uncovered. Winter would not say exactly how many were found.

Authorities say three others were injured, including an 8-year-old girl.

Police say their only suspect killed himself at his brother's house earlier Thursday. He opened fire while dressed as Santa Claus.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is above.

[April78945]

COVINA, Calif. – Stinging from an acrimonious divorce, a man plotting revenge against his ex-wife dressed up like Santa, went to his former in-laws' Christmas Eve party and slaughtered at least six people before killing himself hours later.

Three people were listed as missing after Bruce Pardo's rampage — his ex-wife and her parents — and it was feared their remains were among the ashes of the home, which Pardo set ablaze using a bizarre homemade device that sprayed flammable liquid.

Pardo, 45, had no criminal record and no history of violence, according to police, but he was angry following last week's settlement of his divorce after a marriage that lasted barely a year.

"It was not an amicable divorce," police Lt. Pat Buchanan said.

The massacre began when an 8-year-old girl answered Pardo's knock at the door. Pardo, carrying what appeared to be a large present, pulled out a handgun and shot her in the face, then began shooting indiscriminately as about 25 partygoers tried to flee, police said.

A 16-year-old girl was shot in the back, and a 20-year-old woman broke her ankle when she escaped by jumping from a second-story window. Those two, and the 8-year-old, remained hospitalized Christmas Day.

The gift-wrapped box Pardo was carrying actually contained a pressurized homemade device he used to spray a liquid that quickly sent the house up in flames, police said.

When the fire was extinguished early Thursday, officers found three charred bodies in the living room area.

"They were met with a scene that was just indescribable," police Chief Kim Raney said. Investigators found three more bodies amid the ashes later in the day.

None of the dead or missing have been identified.

Following the shootings, Pardo quickly got out of the Santa suit and drove off, witnesses told police. He went to his brother's home about 25 miles away in the Sylmar area of Los Angeles. No one was home, so Pardo let himself in, police said.

Police were called to the home early Thursday, and officers found Pardo dead of a single bullet to the head.

[Jolie Rouge]

Police were called to the home early Thursday, and officers found Pardo dead of a single bullet to the head.

Saves the taxpayers the expense of a trial and execution and the survivors the trauma and drama of having to testify against a family member who could be so twisted.

The body count is up to 8 per latest reports.

[ilovecats]

Saves the taxpayers the expense of a trial and execution and the survivors the trauma and drama of having to testify against a family member who could be so twisted.

The body count is up to 8 per latest reports.

I agree.The fact that he came bearing a gift and shot an 8 year old in the face just baffles me though.WTF is wrong with people?Bad divorce,finances,whatever...I am going through a bad spell right now and nothing would make me do something like that.I don't even understand what the point is.I guess if my life was so unbearable I would end it,Why do so many people feel the need to take down other people too?Just thinking out loud here,not expecting anyone to have an answer.

[Jolie Rouge]

He went to his former in-laws Christmas Party knowing the entire family would be there - dresses as a "Santa" because that is the expected entertainment which gives him both a disguise and access. The "present" contained a homemade device to spray flamable liquid so clearly he intended to harm as many people as possiable ... as did the action of shooting the 8 year old in the face as soon as she opened the door and he also shot a 16 year old in the back as she tried to run away. He brought multiple weapons and a change of clothes ... so there is no logical way the lawyers could try and argue away premeditation - although they would certainly have tried...

Stupid SOB ... I keep thinking of that poor 8 year old ... will never be able to watch a Christmas special or walk in a mall in the fall again; years of physical and mental therepy in her future. Too bad he didn't chhose to put the bullet in his own head before going to visit his ex. :mad:

[atprm]

I agree.The fact that he came bearing a gift and shot an 8 year old in the face just baffles me though.WTF is wrong with people?Bad divorce,finances,whatever...I am going through a bad spell right now and nothing would make me do something like that.I don't even understand what the point is.I guess if my life was so unbearable I would end it,Why do so many people feel the need to take down other people too?Just thinking out loud here,not expecting anyone to have an answer.


psst... check your pm's.

[dv8grl]

:headshake

[gmyers]

Poor kid will probably scared to feath of santa and just opening the door now. Thats whats scary nowdays. The spouse gets mad at you and kills your family knowing thats what would hurt you the most.

[atprm]

the body count is up to 9 now.

[Jolie Rouge]

Ten dead in California Christmas Eve rampage
By Gina Keating and Steve Gorman
Fri Dec 26, 9:05 pm ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A man who dressed as Santa Claus to kill nine Christmas Eve party guests before taking his own life had been divorced just a week when he unleashed a hail of gunfire and flames that seemed intended for his former wife and in-laws, officials said on Friday.

Authorities in the suburban town of Covina, 23 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, still were trying to comprehend what drove Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, 45, a jobless engineer and longtime church usher, to carry out his fiery rampage.

But survivors told police Pardo seemed to zero in on his ex-spouse and her relatives after he burst into her parents' home at about 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday night, opening fire with four handguns on about 25 party guests there.

"It appears he did have some intended targets, those being family members in the immediate family of his ex-wife," Covina Police Chief Kim Raney told reporters at a news conference.

After running out of bullets, Pardo used a makeshift gas dispenser to spray the inside of the home with a combustible vapor consisting partly of auto-racing fuel, which quickly ignited in an explosion, gutting the dwelling, police said.

The bodies of nine victims, charred beyond recognition, were recovered from the house. Pardo's ex-wife, Sylvia Ortega, 43, and her parents were believed to be among the dead.

Ed Winter, assistant chief coroner for Los Angeles County, said medical and dental records would be needed to identify the bodies, and autopsies to determine whether victims died in the gunfire or the explosion and fire that followed.

Pardo himself suffered third-degree burns in the blast, which melted the Santa suit onto his body. He then fled to his brother's house about 40 miles away, where authorities later found him dead from a gunshot wound to the head.

Some $17,000 in cash and airline tickets for a Thursday flight from Los Angeles to Canada were found on his body.

"All indications are that he intended to commit this crime and then flee the country," Raney said. "It appears ... he didn't anticipate injuring himself to the point where he obviously took his own life."

According to a copy of Pardo's resume and other information obtained by detectives, Pardo held degrees in electrical engineering and had worked for about nine years at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, ending in 1994.

Raney said Pardo lost his job at a radar company in October and that he and his former wife had finalized their divorce last Thursday in a proceeding the police chief described as "somewhat contentious." They had no children together.

A member of Pardo's Roman Catholic congregation in the community of Montrose, 13 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, told a newspaper that Pardo had been an usher for the past five or six years and was "just the nicest guy. He would do anything for the church."

Among those who survived the rampage were an 8-year-old girl who was shot in the face by Pardo when she opened the door for him, and a 16-year-old girl who was shot in the back as guests fled in horror.

The house was engulfed in flames when police arrived, about three minutes after someone made an emergency call. One girl jumped from a second-floor window to escape, Raney said.

In a final act of destruction encountered by authorities after Pardo had killed himself, his rental car was discovered to have been booby-trapped with the remnants of the Santa suit rigged to a homemade fire bomb.

The bomb ignited when authorities tried to defuse it, engulfing the car in flames, but no one was hurt, Raney said.

At Pardo's home, police found a supply of racing fuel, empty handgun boxes and two high-powered shotguns, Raney said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081227/ts_nm/us_usa_santa_shooting_9

[atprm]

They just did an interview with this guy's ex-girlfriend ... she said what caused them to break up was that she found out HE HAS A DISABLED SON THAT HE WAS NOT SUPPORTING... and for her that was the deal breaker...


that is the first I have heard about him having a child somewhere...

[atprm]

Police: Santa gunman planned to kill more than 9

Dec 30, 7:04 AM (ET)

By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON

COVINA, Calif. (AP) - The man who killed nine people at his former in-law's Christmas party while dressed as Santa Claus had plotted the attack several months ago and his hit list was longer than first thought.

Police said Monday that Bruce Pardo planned to also kill his mother and his ex-wife's divorce attorney but committed suicide before he could complete the task.

Authorities said his plan was thorough and detailed. Pardo had a getaway car, an airplane ticket to the Midwest, several guns, and high-powered ammunition only sold outside the state.

He launched the attack on Christmas Eve, putting on his Santa Claus suit, arming himself with four guns and barging into a party at his ex-relatives' home. He then killed nine people and torched the home.

Police Lt. Pat Buchanan said Pardo knew his mother had been invited to the party and intended to kill her because he felt she sided with his ex-wife in their divorce. Lucky for her, Buchanan said, she felt ill and opted to stay home.

His ex-wife's attorney also was apparently a target. Police Chief Kim Raney said Pardo left a rented vehicle near the attorney's Glendale home the day of the shooting and filled it with maps, clothes and a fuel tank.

But Pardo never made it to the vehicle. He was burned while torching the in-law's house and later killed himself at his brother's home.

[ilovecats]

omg Imagine how his mother must feel now knowing she would have been next?What a sick freak!

[ma4angels]

what a sick person I feel so sorry for that little girl who opened the door to Santa and the gun. I pray for the ones he killed and injured. So was there more people that survied then just the three who were injuried. Wasn't there 25 people there? I guess the others got out without injury I am hoping.

[3lilpigs]

[SIZE="4"]

Police said Monday that Bruce Pardo planned to also kill his mother and his ex-wife's divorce attorney but committed suicide before he could complete the task.

Authorities said his plan was thorough and detailed.

His ex-wife's attorney also was apparently a target.
.

What plan? How do they know this? Did he leave a note or something behind??

[atprm]

well, from the articles I read, he had 2 cars -- one of which exploded.

in the other car, that was parked near the attorney's residence/business...there were notes and maps.