California attack: 80-yr-old gunman shoots dead 1, wounds 1, then kills self

Mill Valley: An 80-year-old man shot two people, killing one, at a Northern California apartment complex and later turned the gun on himself, authorities said Thursday.

A woman died and a man remained hospitalised in intensive care after the shooting in Mill Valley, about 23 kilometres north of San Francisco, Marin County sheriff’s Sgt Brenton Schneider said.

Deputies found the wounded victims after responding to a report of shots being fired at the apartment complex on east Blithedale Avenue shortly before 3:30pm, authorities said. The woman later was pronounced dead.

The suspected gunman was spotted fleeing into an apartment at the complex and deputies evacuated nearby units, surrounded the area and urged other residents to shelter in place.

Video from the scene showed a deputy with his gun drawn shielding two people as they ran from an apartment.

Deputies finally entered the apartment about two hours after the shooting and found the gunman dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot, Schneider said.

The identities of the victims and the gunman weren’t immediately released.

There was no immediate word on a motive for the attack or whether the gunman knew the victims.