LOS ANGELES, California: Police said they recovered six bodies from a Los Angeles house where a man dressed as Santa Claus fired gunshots and started a fire Christmas Eve.
Bruce Jeffrey Pardo was sought for a Christmas party shooting before taking his own life, police said.
Bruce Jeffrey Pardo was sought for a Christmas party shooting before taking his own life, police said.
Police said the suspect, Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, committed suicide after the attack.
Police said three others, Pardo's ex-mother-in-law, ex-father-in-law and ex-wife, whom he recently divorced -- are still unaccounted for.
At a news conference Thursday, police in Covina, California, said Pardo knocked on the door of his ex-in-law's home, where there was a Christmas party attended by more than 25 people.
After someone opened the door, an 8-year-old girl ran towards the costumed Pardo who shot her in the face, police said. Video Watch police describe the child getting shot »
The 8-year-old, who survived the attack, is in fair condition at a Los Angeles hospital. Police said the girl does have serious wounds, including an entry wound on the right side of her face, and an exit wound on the left side, indicating the bullet likely pierced straight through her face.
Pardo entered the home holding a gun in one hand and a wrapped Christmas package containing a home-made device to spread fire, police said.
Pardo fired indiscriminately as partygoers fled, hid under furniture, threw items to break windows, and in at least one case, jumped out a second-story window, police said.
A 16-year-old girl was hospitalized with a gun shot wound and another victim, who jumped out the window, was taken to a local hospital, police said.
After the shooting, police believe Pardo set fire to the home. Covina Police Department Lt. Pat Buchanan said the device was "something we have never seen before."
...source: cnn.com
