"Santa Claus" opens fire at party in California

[tattedupboy]

I'm not sure what to make of this one except that I hope they get this guy.


'Santa' opens fire at Calif. party; 3 dead - Yahoo! News

COVINA, Calif. – A man dressed as Santa Claus opened fire at a Christmas Eve party in a suburban Los Angeles home that subsequently caught fire, leaving three people dead, police said Thursday.

Police were seeking a person of interest, 45-year-old Bruce Jeffrey Pardo. Pardo, described by police as armed and dangerous, is the estranged husband of a person who may have been at the party.

"He was going through some type of marital problems, and we believe that this residence is a relative's residence," Lt. Pat Buchanan said.

The gunman arrived at the party in Covina late Wednesday and immediately opened fire with a handgun, Buchanan said. Witnesses told police that the man took off the Santa suit and left the scene in street clothes.

Buchanan says three bodies were found after the fire was put out. He could not say how the fire started or how the three people died.

Buchanan also said police expected to name Pardo as a suspect later Thursday.

Buchanan says three other people were injured. A woman in her 20s and an 8-year-old girl had gunshot wounds that were not life-threatening, and a third person had a broken ankle.

Police received several 911 calls with reports of shots fired at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday night, and were still hearing gunshots after they arrived and found the house in flames, Buchanan said.

At first, firefighters were held back by police because shots were still being fired, though it may have been ammunition burning in the blaze, fire Captain Mike Brown said.

Firefighters had extinguished the blaze by about 1:30 a.m. Thursday, fire Captain Mike Brown said.

The two-story home on a cul-de-sac was completely destroyed in Covina, a quiet suburb 25 miles east of Los Angeles.

"This neighborhood is really quiet," said Jeffrey Barrientos, who lives half a block from the house that burned. Barrientos said the neighborhood's residents were mostly retirees and elderly people.

[HK4U]

What a sad thing this was. What kind of monster does something like this?

Well, the death count is up to 8 now. The only good thing that came out of this is that the BG also wasted himself.

[HK4U]

I heard 9 early today. Any way there were something like 26 party goers there at the time. Might have been nice for some of them to be armed. Of course that would make to much sense.

[ricbak]

HK, GP, I do not know what to say. The reports I have read is up to nine dead. An 8 year at point blank range. An Elderly couple 70/80ish. I do feel for the survivors, they will need help to cope with this. Our prayers should be for them.

[ragsflh]

9 dead includes thas sorry///// i feel for the surviors.

[tattedupboy]

Originally Posted by HK4U

Wat a sad thing this was. What kind of monster does something like this?

Apparently the kind who loses his wife and job. Read here:

Santa gunman lost job, wife before gory attack - Yahoo! News



COVINA, Calif. – Bruce Pardo's ambitions rarely panned out quite as he envisioned.

He lost his electrical engineering job. His marriage ended after two years. Even his planned getaway to Canada after a murderous rampage at his former in-laws' house ended instead in his suicide after he badly burned himself while torching the house.

The 45-year-old Pardo, accused of killing nine people and injuring three others, wasn't well-known by neighbors, who described him as a quiet man. Friends said he volunteered as a church usher.

But on Christmas Eve, police said he wreaked unimaginable havoc when he showed up at a party at his ex-wife's parents' home dressed as Santa Claus, leaving behind charred corpses and endless questions.

"It's a shock to everybody that knew him," said Jan Detanna, head usher at the Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Montrose, where Pardo volunteered. "You just don't know what's going on sometimes."

Some described Pardo as a big man with a firm handshake who seemed upbeat and doted on a big, brown Akita he owned with his former wife.

Police said Friday that Pardo ditched his plan to flee to Canada after suffering burns in the attack on the home in Covina, 25 miles east of Los Angeles. He was later found dead, a plane ticket and cash strapped to his body, and parts of his Santa costume fused to his skin.

Officials also released a 911 call filled with frantic appeals for help. "My mom's house is on fire!" said a caller phoning from a neighbor's house. "He's still shooting at them!"

Emerging details indicated Pardo devised an extensive plan to destroy his ex-wife's family after a costly divorce that was finalized last week, just months after losing his aerospace job.

No bodies were identified because of charring, but police Lt. Tim Doonan said all were Pardo's former relatives. He declined to say whether his ex-wife and her parents were among them, but said they were unaccounted for.

The victims were believed to range in age from 17 to 80. Police Chief Kim Raney said "he stood over them and shot them execution-style."

Armed with four guns, wearing the Santa suit and carrying a fuel-spraying device wrapped like a present, Pardo showed up at the home at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday as a party of about 25 people was under way.

Raney said Pardo fired a shot into the face of an 8-year-old girl who answered the door and at first fired indiscriminately, then apparently targeted relatives of his ex-wife as other guests fled. The girl survived.

Pardo retreated to the front door and retrieved a device that mixed carbon dioxide or oxygen with high-octane racing fuel. Fleeing guests saw him spraying the fuel inside the house when the vapor was ignited, possibly by a pilot light or a candle, and exploded.

"Mr. Pardo was severely injured during that explosion," Raney said. "He suffered third-degree burns on both arms and it also appears that the Santa Claus suit that he was wearing did melt onto his body."

Pardo then drove to his brother's home in the Sylmar area of Los Angeles, broke in and shot himself in the head. His brother discovered the body early Thursday. Pardo had an airline ticket for a Christmas morning flight to Canada and $17,000 in cash on his body, some attached to his legs with Saran Wrap and some in a girdle, the chief said.

Before the suicide, Pardo used remnants of the Santa suit to booby-trap his rental car to explode, the chief said.

Raney said Pardo wired the suit so when it was lifted it "would pull a trip wire or a switch, ignite a flare inside the car that would then ignite black powder and he had several hundred rounds of handgun ammunition inside the car."

The device went off as a bomb squad worked to disarm it Thursday but no one was hurt.

A search of Pardo's own home in Montrose, a suburb northeast of Los Angeles, turned up racing fuel, five empty boxes for high-powered semi-automatic handguns and two high-powered shotguns.

The police chief said Pardo had no military experience, and in a resume he claimed to have a bachelor's and master's degree in electrical engineering.

Court records show Pardo's ex-wife, Sylvia Pardo, 43, filed for a dissolution of marriage on March 24, 2008, and they were legally separated after about two years of marriage. The two reached a settlement on Dec. 18.

Bruce Pardo owed her $10,000 as part of the settlement, according to court documents that detailed a bitter split. He also lost a dog he doted upon and did not get back a valuable wedding ring.

"No counseling or delay could help restore this marriage," the settlement stated. "There are irreconcilable differences which have led to the complete breakdown of the marriage."

The couple had no children together, but Bruce Pardo had a son from a previous relationship who had "some challenges," Raney said without elaboration. "I'm not sure he was supporting the child but he does have at least one child," he said.

[sambo42xa]

Prayers out to the Families.
I carried My weapon, both xmas eve and xmas. BUT, when I got to my destinations I locked it in the vehicle safe box (Wife did not know I carried both these days). There were too many children at both festivities and My judgement told me to leave it in the vehicle. Once we left, it went back in my holster.
After I saw this story on the news it had me wondering..........what if:
it happened where I was at and my gun was in the car; should I have worn it at both parties?? These were my Wifes relatives at the Eve party who do not know I carry (my Wife does) and my Family for xmas day who know I carry but would not have thought of me bringing a weapon out on xmas.
As WE ALL say every time we read a story like these, "that's why You should be armed". You never know.

[wuzfuz]

The last word on this was that the guy in the Santa suit died of a self-inflicted GSW after killing nine people, setting the house on fire and leaving a car rigged to have 500 rounds of ammo go off. He had a second 'clean' rental car, but suffered third degree buirns in the fire, so he blew his brains out. Sad he had to take nine with him. As my mom used to say, suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

[ricbak]

Originally Posted by wuzfuz

.!.. As my mom used to say, suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

So very True, Sir.
My You and your Families have a SAfe and Prosperous New Year