2021 — May 26, mass shooting/9 and suicide, San Jose Light Rail Yard, San Jose, CA– 10

–10 AP. “San Jose…gunman appeared to target some victims, said he hated work years ago.” 5-27-2021.

Narrative Information (Chronological)

May 26, Los Angeles Times: “San Jose – In California’s largest mass shooting this year, a gunman killed eight people at a San Jose light rail yard Wednesday morning before dying of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.

“The gunman set his own house on fire before he drove to a Valley Transportation Authority union meeting and began shooting, law enforcement sources said. Officials said the victims were shot in two different buildings.

“The shooter was identified by sources as Samuel Cassidy, 57, a maintenance worker at the VTA….

“Deputies did not exchange gunfire with the suspect, Davis said [Deputy Russell Davis, Santa Clara Sheriff’s Dept.], noting that the preliminary assumption is that he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“Early indications are that the shooting was related to a workplace issue and that it did not involve riders of Santa Clara County’s light rail system, sources said.

“At Cassidy’s beige stucco three-bedroom home on Angmar Court in San Jose, investigators discovered firearms and a large amount of ammunition, according to sources….

“Cassidy had worked at the light rail yard for at least eight years, according to public records. According to a law enforcement source, Cassidy shot virtually everyone on the morning shift, including some he had worked with for years.

“His ex-wife filed a restraining order against him in 2009, according to court records….

“San Jose Fire Dept. Battalion Chief Jeff Fielding said firefighters responded to a blaze at the gunman’s home at 6:36 a.m. No one was home….

“Two shooting victims were taken to the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Joy Alexiou said. One was pronounced dead on arrival, and the other is in critical condition….

“Officials said they received multiple 911 calls around 6:35 a.m. from witnesses who reported hearing shots ring out at the VTA rail yard on West Younger Avenue near downtown San Jose….

“California’s deadliest so far this year, the mass shooting was the 231st in the United States in 2021, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shootings as incidents in which four or more people — not including the assailant — are killed or injured….”

May 27, AP: “San Jose, Calif. – A gunman who killed nine people at a California rail yard appeared to target some of the victims, a sheriff told The Associated Press on Thursday, while a Biden administration official said he spoke of hating his workplace when customs officers detained him after a 2016 trip to the Philippines.

“The shooter arrived at the light rail facility for the Valley Transportation Authority in San Jose around 6 a.m. Wednesday with a duffel bag carrying two semi-automatic handguns and 11 high-capacity magazines, Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith said in an interview. “It appears to us at this point that he said to one of the people there: ‘I’m not going to shoot you,'” Smith said. “And then he shot other people. So I imagine there was some kind of thought on who he wanted to shoot.”

“While there are no cameras inside the rail yard’s two buildings, Smith said footage captured him moving from one location to the next. It took deputies six minutes from the first 911 calls to find the gunman on the third floor of one of the buildings, Smith said.

“He killed himself as deputies closed in on the facility serving the county of more than 1 million people in the heart of Silicon Valley. More than 100 people were there at the time, and authorities found five victims in one building and two in another, Smith said.

“Authorities do not yet know whether the gunman had worked regularly with any of the victims. Investigators were serving search warrants on his home and cellphone, seeking to determine what prompted the bloodshed, the sheriff said….

“The attacker was identified as 57-year-old Samuel Cassidy, according to two law enforcement officials…

“Cassidy had a memo book with notes on how he hated the Valley Transportation Authority, according to a Biden administration official who described a Department of Homeland Security memo that laid out Cassidy’s statements. The official saw the memo and detailed its contents to The Associated Press but was not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation. The memo said he had books about “terrorism and fear and manifestos” but when he was asked whether he had issues with people at work he said no.

“The memo doesn’t say why he was stopped after his 2016 trip. It notes that Cassidy had a ‘minor criminal history’ and cites a 1983 incident where he was arrested in San Jose and charged with ‘misdemeanor obstruction/resisting a peace officer.’

“Cassidy’s ex-wife said he had talked about killing people at work more than a decade ago. ‘I never believed him, and it never happened. Until now,’ a tearful Cecilia Nelms told the AP on Wednesday [26th]. She said he used to come home from work resentful and angry over what he perceived as unfair assignments. ‘He could dwell on things,’ she said. The two were married for about 10 years until a 2005 divorce filing, and she hadn’t been in touch with Cassidy for about 13 years, Nelms said….

“…in court documents filed in 2009, an ex-girlfriend described him as volatile and violent, with major mood swings because of bipolar disorder that became worse when he drank heavily. Several times while he was drunk, Cassidy forced himself on her sexually despite her refusals, pinning her arms with his body weight, the woman said in a sworn statement filed after Cassidy sought a restraining order against her. The documents were obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle….

“The death toll rose from eight after officials confirmed the death late Wednesday of 49-year-old Alex Ward Fritch, who had been hospitalized in critical condition after the attack.

“The three handguns he had appear to be legal, sheriff’s officials said. Authorities do not yet know how he obtained them. He also had 11 high-capacity magazines, each with 12 rounds. In California, it is illegal to buy magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. However, if Cassidy had obtained them before Jan. 1, 2000, he would be allowed to have them unless he was otherwise prohibited from possessing firearms.

“The sheriff said authorities found explosives at the gunman’s home, where investigators believe he had set a timer or slow-burn device so that a fire would occur at the same time as the shooting. Flames were reported minutes after the first 911 calls came in from the rail facility….

“The shooting killed employees who had been bus and light rail operators, mechanics, linemen and an assistant superintendent over the course of their careers.

“They were Alex Ward Fritch, 49; Paul Delacruz Megia, 42; Taptejdeep Singh, 36; Adrian Balleza, 29; Jose Dejesus Hernandez, 35; Timothy Michael Romo, 49; Michael Joseph Rudometkin, 40; Abdolvahab Alaghmandan, 63, and Lars Kepler Lane, 63….

“It was the 15th mass killing in the U.S. this year, all shootings that claimed at least four lives each for a total of 87 deaths, according to a database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University….” (AP. “San Jose shooting gunman appeared to target some victims, said he hated work years ago. 9 victims killed in shooting.” 5-27-2021.)

May 28, LA Times: “….Emerging reports Friday also indicated that Cassidy may have been facing a disciplinary hearing at the agency, where he worked as a maintenance worker for the last eight years. But representatives for VTA said he was not scheduled for a disciplinary hearing Wednesday ‘or any other upcoming or prior date.’ He was scheduled to report for a regular shift the day of the shooting….

“A source at the agency said that Cassidy had ‘gone off’ on managers in the Operations Control Center about three weeks before the shooting when they called on him to perform emergency maintenance work and that he had told them he wouldn’t fix anything until they fixed his paychecks. The second building where he was headed before encountering sheriff’s deputies housed the Operations Control Center, according to the source….

“Cassidy, who authorities said took his own life when deputies confronted him, was armed with three semiautomatic 9-millimeter handguns and 32 high-capacity magazines loaded with additional ammunition. Officials said he fired 39 shots….
“A VTA clerical worker, who wished to remain anonymous because she was advised not to speak to the media, said the first building houses the ways, power and signal team and the second building includes operations and light rail maintenance. Based on the first building’s layout and exit locations, she said, the victims would have had ‘nowhere to go.’….” (Los Angeles Times. “San Jose shooter had 12 guns, 25,000 rounds of ammunition at home, sheriff says.” 5-28-2021.)

May 28, abc7news.com (Dan Noyes) San Francisco: “San Jose, Calif. (KGO) — South Bay officials are confirming to the ABC7 I-Team that federal officials did not contact the VTA or law enforcement after US Customs detained Samuel Cassidy in 2016 and found books on terrorism and a notebook of his complaints against the transit agency.

“ABC7 News is hearing reports that coworkers worried about Cassidy’s anger issues and his collection of guns. It is an essential question – were warning signs ignored?

“The I-Team has confirmed information first reported by the Wall Street Journal that the mass murderer was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection after a 2016 trip to the Philippines. Authorities found books on terrorism and a notebook listing complaints about the VTA in the suspect’s possession. Customs and the agency that oversees it, the Department of Homeland Security, have not responded to several calls and emails asking whether that information ever reached the VTA.

“But, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen addressed it in our interview late Friday. ‘There’s no indication that Homeland Security shared that information from 2016 with anyone in local law enforcement. It was not shared with the DA’s office, certainly, that is the kind of information that may be useful to law enforcement,’ said Rosen.

“Both the VTA and Cassidy’s union are denying published reports that he faced a disciplinary hearing on the day he opened fire. Amalgamated Transit Union President John Courtney wrote, ‘I wish to make it crystal clear that the ATU Local 265 officials who were at the site of this unfathomable tragedy were not, repeat not, there to attend any disciplinary or Skelly Rights hearings or to respond to any jobsite or racial-oriented complaints.’

“We are also hearing reports that coworkers were concerned about Cassidy’s combination of anger issues and his collection of weapons. Rosen told us, they’ve checked and no complaints came into local law enforcement or the DA’s office about Cassidy before Wednesday’s mass shooting. Anyone could have tipped authorities to the potential danger, under the state’s red flag laws. ‘Law enforcement will immediately investigate that, they will work quickly with the DA’s Office, we’ll get in front of a judge, and when we get a restraining order, we will immediately remove those guns,’ said Rosen.

“The VTA also confirmed Friday that Cassidy did not face a disciplinary hearing the day of the shooting or in the past. And he had no hearings scheduled for the future.” (abc7news.com (Dan Noyes), San Francisco. “Feds failed to tell VTA, law enforcement about San Jose shooter’s detention in 2016, officials say.” 5-28-2021.)

May 29, BBC: “The man who killed nine people in California this week had 12 firearms, more than 20 cans of petrol, and approximately 22,000 rounds of ammunition at his house, police say….

“Guns were hidden in crawl spaces and doorways, a spokesman told reporters at a press conference. The home was ‘very cluttered’, he said.

“Officers also said Cassidy had put bullets in a cooking pot on the stove, which detonated and set the house on fire. An FBI agent quoted by Reuters news agency said this blaze probably destroyed evidence which could have helped provide a motive for the shooting.” (“San Jose shooting: Guns, petrol and 220,000 rounds of ammunition found.”)

Sources

abc7news.com (Dan Noyes), San Francisco. “Feds failed to tell VTA, law enforcement about San Jose shooter’s detention in 2016, officials say.” 5-28-2021. Accessed 5-29-2021 at: https://abc7news.com/vta-shooting-san-jose-samuel-cassidy-us-customs-mass/10710930/

Associated Press (Terence Chea, Janie Har and Stefanie Dazio). “San Jose shooting gunman appeared to target some victims, said he hated work years ago. 9 victims killed in shooting.” 5-27-2021. Accessed 5-27-2021 at: https://www.kcra.com/article/san-jose-shooting-may-27/36556764

BBC News. US & Canada. “San Jose shooting: Guns, petrol and 220,000 rounds of ammunition found.” 5-29-2021. Accessed 5-29-2021 at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57293174

Los Angeles Times. “Nine dead, including gunman, in San Jose rail yard mass shooting.” 5-26-2021. Accessed 5-26-2021 at: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-05-26/police-swarm-active-shooter-incident-in-san-jose

Los Angeles Times (Hayley Smith, Richard Winton, Leila Miller, Lila Seidman). “San Jose shooter had 12 guns, 25,000 rounds of ammunition at home, sheriff says.” 5-28-2021. Accessed 5-29-2021 at: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-05-28/san-jose-gunman-faced-disciplinary-hearing-before-shooting