5 people shot in Campbell

5 people shot in Campbell

CAMPBELL

Two Campbell police officers responded to a chaotic scene at 1:04 p.m. Saturday, finding four shooting victims inside 47 Seventh St. and the suspect fleeing through backyards with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the torso, police said.

Police believe all of the victims and the suspect have some type of family relationship, but the nature of the relationship is not yet known.

As one officer chased down the suspect, a male, not far from the home, the other officer attended to the victims on the first and second floors until ambulance personnel arrived.

Three women — one older, one middle-aged and a young woman — had each suffered a single gunshot would to the torso and suffered serious injuries, police said. A fifth victim, a young male, had been shot in the arm.

All were transported to local hospitals for treatment, but their names were not being released pending notification of relatives, said Sgt. Drew Rauzan, interim chief of police.

The situation became even more unreal a short time later when officers realized that an upstairs bedroom was on fire, and officers used a fire extinguisher to knock down the flames from box springs and two mattresses, said Detective Sgt. John Rusnak.

Police believe the suspect started the fire in his bedroom, then shot the four victims — two on the second floor, two on the first floor — then turned the gun on himself.

Rusnak said a letter found in the suspect’s bedroom suggests that he started the fire to cover up evidence or possibly to kill everyone in the house and that the letter suggests that the gunman may have acted in response to a family dispute.