Police Release Details About Santa Monica Shootings

• 5 Killed in Santa Monica Shootings
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• Shootings Change Obama’s Travel Plans
  
• Santa Monica Reacts to Violence at SMC
• SMC Cancels Weekend Events, Offers Support Services
  
• Police Search Mar Vista Unit for Santa Monica Shooting Link
• Neighbors Recount How Quiet Neighborhood Erupted Into Violence
• Police Release Details About Santa Monica Shootings

The black-clad assailant, a former SMC student, was shot and killed outside the college library, clutching a .223 caliber assault rifle. That gun is "similar in type to an AR-15'' and had been equipped with enough 30-shell magazines to hold 1,300 rounds, said the city's chief, Jacqueline Seabrooks.

No identity was officially released for the gunman or the two people found dead in a burning house about a mile from the college campus as chaos erupted and blood was spilled in Santa Monica just before noon Friday.

The Los Angeles Times, citing police, named him as John Zawahi, who would have been 24 today. The Times reported he had known mental health problems and was angry over his parents' divorce.

SMC police confirmed that a college groundskeeper, Carlos Navarro Franco, 68, was shot dead by the gunman near the school. A woman passenger, believed to be his daughter, was critically injured, but police did not say if she was the person described as near death.

Students and staff were told that cars parked in lots and garages may be retrieved starting late today, and that personal belongings abandoned in Friday's frantic evacuations might be available for pick-up starting Sunday.

No information was released Saturday about two dead persons found at a burning house one mile from the SMC campus, where one motorist was grazed by a bullet and a second carjacked at the onset of the shootings.

The Times has reported that both the gunman's brother and father, Samir Zawahri, 55, were found dead inside the ash and wreckage from the house with an unkempt yard, on a cul de sac next to the Santa Monica (10) Freeway.

The shooter's name remains officially undisclosed, as relatives are notified of his death, police said. The relatives are believed to be out of the country.

Seabrooks revealed that the alleged shooter was found wearing a vest that could have been loaded with armor, but that no such armor was present. She refused to speculate on motive but added "I would presume that anytime someone puts on a vest and comes out with a bag of extra magazines, and comes out with handguns and comes out with extra bullets, I would say that is pretty much premeditated,'' Seabrooks said.

The gunman had dropped a bag on campus, containing additional magazines, which are metal chambers that hold 30 bullets each and can feed them into the gun's firing chamber rapidly. Seabrooks said the bag also contained a handgun and the central portion of a semi-automatic rifle called a "receiver.''

Both police chiefs stressed that they believe the shootings were not "a school shooting as we traditionally define it,'' as SMC police chief Albert Vasquez said.

But they did say the gunman had attended SMC, as recently as 2010, said Seabrooks.

"In this case, the circumstances began in the community of Santa Monica, and then ended on a campus,'' said Vasquez. "By the way we traditionally look at school shootings, that's not the definition of a school shooting.''

Seabrooks said her department had some sort of contact with the gunman in 2006, but said those records are sealed because he was a juvenile.

Friday's rolling wave of violence began with gunshots reported at 11:52 at the suspect's house.

One woman was hit by a bullet, and a second woman carjacked, as police rolled up to find the burning house. Numerous people were shot at on Pico Boulevard, near the campus.

Two people were injured on a Big Blue Bus, which drove off to Olympic at Cloverfield boulevards to meet paramedics.

That put the incident in the planned motorcade route for President Barack Obama, who was three miles away, at a fundraiser. The Secret Service was alerted, which scrubbed his planned return to LAX via helicopters from Santa Monica Airport.

The president returned to LAX via the San Diego (405) Freeway, according to radio traffic reports, forcing a brief closure of that route across the Westside.

Officials encouraged people with type-O negative, type-O positive and type AB blood to donate. The UCLA Blood & Platelet Center located at 1045 Gayley Ave. will be open Saturday, and appointments can be made by calling (310) 825-0888, ext. 2.

-Patch Editor Jessica E. Davis and City News Service contributed to this report.