Los Angeles:
A gunman who killed three people in what US police said was a random attack called his mother and shot himself dead in Washington state on Tuesday.
The staggering episode came on the heels of two mass shootings in California that left 18 people dead, as the United States once again grapples with the horror of rising gun violence.
Police in Yakima say a man they previously named as 21-year-old local Jarid Haddock shot people in and around a convenience store before fleeing.
Officers launched an extensive manhunt across the city of 100,000 people, which is 100 miles southeast of Seattle, warning that the wanted man was armed and dangerous.
“It appears to be a random situation,” Yakima police chief Matthew Murray said early Tuesday.
“There was no obvious conflict between the parties. They just walked in and started shooting.”
Hours later, police received an emergency call from a woman who said the wanted man had borrowed her phone.
“He then called his mother and made several incriminating statements, including ‘I killed those people,'” Murray told reporters.
“He made several statements in front of her that he would then commit suicide.”
First responders rushed to the crime scene near a convenience store, arriving in time to hear gunshots as he committed suicide.
“They provided medical care to save his life, but he was later pronounced dead.”
The Yakima shooting was the latest outbreak of gun violence to shake the United States.
On Monday, seven people died at two agricultural sites south of San Francisco when a Chinese-American farm worker allegedly opened fire on his colleagues.
Some of his victims are known to be Chinese as well.
On Saturday night, an elderly Asian man rampaged through a dance studio in Monterey Park near Los Angeles, killing 11 people gathered for Lunar New Year celebrations.
Huu Can Tran shot himself several hours later when police raided his van.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)
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