Gunman kills 5, self in Bakersfield shooting spree

BAKERSFIELD (KRON/AP) — Six people have been shot and killed in five different places throughout Bakersfield on Wednesday night.

Among the six dead are the gunman’s wife and himself. The gunman committed suicide as a sheriff’s deputy closed in.

One shooting happened in the area of the 8000 block of Di Miller Drive off Weedpatch Highway at around 5:30 p.m. Another happened at a residence.

There are five different search warrants. Multiple others have been shot.

“Obviously, these are not random shootings,” Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood told KERO-TV. Six people died in a short amount of time, he added.

Police say there are at least 30 witnesses.

The man first showed up at a trucking business with his wife shortly before 5:30 p.m. where he confronted another man.

“The suspect, the husband, shot the person at the trucking company and then turned and shot his wife,” then chased and shot another man who showed up, Youngblood said.

The gunman then went to a home where he shot two people, the sheriff said.

He then carjacked a woman who was driving her child. The woman and child escaped and the man drove to a highway where a sheriff’s deputy saw him, Youngblood said.

The gunman saw the deputy and pulled into a lot. When the deputy confronted him at gunpoint the man shot himself in the chest, the sheriff said.

His identity was not immediately released.

There’s no immediate word on how the other victims were related.

Bakersfield is about 90 miles north of Los Angeles.

No other information has been made available by police.