Suspect in shooting of colleague at California college was found dead in car after standoff

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – A gunman suspected of critically wounding a colleague in a shooting at California’s Santa Monica College has taken his own life during a confrontation with police, authorities said.

The unidentified victim, a prison warden, remained in critical condition after being shot at the school’s media and design center late Monday, Santa Monica police said in a statement Wednesday.

The 39-year-old suspect fled after the shooting, which college officials described as a “workplace violence incident.” His car was stopped by police near the town of Hawthorne, south of Santa Monica. After failing to surrender, he was found dead by internal suicide, the ministry statement said.

“The investigation is ongoing and investigators are working to determine the full sequence of events that led to this tragedy,” the statement said. “There are no other suspects known and there is no ongoing threat to the public.”

In 2011, the suspect was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, and in 2019 he was arrested for alleged assault with a deadly weapon. According to the police, however, he was only convicted of property crimes.

The community college, where about 30,000 students study on campuses in the beach town, was open again on Wednesday after being closed on Tuesday during the investigation.