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Domestic Dispute Erupts In Shooting At Salinas Social Security Office; 2 Dead, 2 Injured

SALINAS (CBS SF) -- A double homicide outside federal offices in Salinas Thursday morning stemmed from a domestic dispute involving a Garden Grove couple, a police official said.

The suspect, a 50-year-old man, allegedly tracked his estranged 32-year-old wife from the Southern California city to Salinas, police Commander Vince Maiorana said.

Around 8:45 a.m., officers responded to reports of shots fired and possible victims in a parking lot at 928 E. Blanco Road, which is a highly trafficked industrial area, Maiorana said.

Social Security Administration and Internal Revenue Service offices are listed at that address.

Minutes later, four officers arrived at the scene, where they found two people dead and two other others injured from gunfire, Maiorana said.

The suspect allegedly fired multiple shots at his estranged wife and three of her relatives: an aunt, an uncle and a cousin, Maiorana said.

Investigators determined the suspect and his wife were having marital issues that led her to leave Garden Grove for Salinas, where her relatives lived, Maiorana said.

The suspect, who had arrived in the Salinas area within the past few days, drove behind the 32-year-old woman and her relatives to the Social Security Administration building parking lot, Maiorana said.

He exchanged words with his estranged wife prior to the shooting, Maiorana said.

The deceased were the woman's 51-year-old aunt, who was found outside the vehicle, and her uncle, a 64-year-old man, found inside the vehicle, according to Maiorana.

The couple has not been identified pending notification of next of kin, Maiorana said.

The 32-year-old woman and her cousin, a 28-year-old man, were transported to a hospital with significant injuries, according to Maiorana.

The woman is in critical but stable condition and her cousin is in stable condition, he said.

The suspect, who witnesses identified as the shooter, was cooperative with officers and taken into custody without incident, Maiorana said.

The suspect, who confessed to the crime, is being processed at Salinas police headquarters and will be booked into Monterey County Jail, he said.

Police have recovered a 9mm handgun the suspect allegedly used at the scene, according to Maiorana.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Salinas police investigations division at (831) 758-7226 or WeTip line at (800) 782-7463.

 

© Copyright 2015 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

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