therightscoop.com The man who killed 8 people and then turned the gun on himself was an employee of the Valley Transportation Authority rail yard in San Jose. His name is being reported as Samuel James Cassidy, age 57, and here’s what we know about him and the shooting this morning:
KTVU – The alleged shooter who killed eight co-workers at a San Jose rail yard on Wednesday morning before he died himself was a VTA employee, according to authorities.
Multiple sources identified the suspect as Sam James Cassidy, 57, a technician at the rail yard where the 6:34 a.m. shooting at the VTA light rail yard occurred during a union meeting.
Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said the gunman killed himself.
In addition, KTVU has learned that a fire reported at Cassidy’s home on Angmar Court about the same time is linked to the mass shooting, the mayor confirmed.
Firefighters responded to a fire at Cassidy’s house at 6:36 a.m. It’s about eight miles away from the maintenance yard and was knocked down shortly after 7:30 a.m.
That address became the site of a second crime scene by mid-morning. There were reports of gasoline and ammunition found throughout the house. A massive response of first responders and law enforcement surrounded his home into the afternoon.
In addition, there was a structure fire on the 1800 block of Smith Avenue at a plywood and lumber business at about 6:29 a.m., five minutes before the first call for a shooting at the VTA light-rail yard and is about five miles away from the VTA site.
In a phone interview, Cassidy’s ex-wife told KTVU the two divorced in 2009 and she did not have much contact with him since then.
She lived there for about 10 years with him and did not want to say much more.
A check of court records shows he didn’t have a major criminal background in Santa Clara County, but he did had some traffic violations.
The mother of a VTA employee told KTVU that her son thought Cassidy was “strange.”
Others in the neighborhood described him as a loner.
Public records showed he earned more than $100,000 a year working for the VTA.
Motives for the shooting and the fire have not been detailed.
I’m guessing this was premeditated since there was a fire at his home and gasoline and ammunition were strewn about. Sounds like he wasn’t planning on going back there.
Cassidy’s ex-wife didn’t want to give much information about him yet, since she wasn’t sure if he was a victim or the shooter, but I’m sure we’ll learn much more about him soon.
