San Jose shooting victims, shooter identified

Authorities late Wednesday released the names of the eight victims who were killed in a shooting at a rail yard in San Jose, Calif.

The Santa Clara County medical examiner’s office completed its investigation and released the names of the victims.

Paul Delacruz Megia, 42; Taptejdeep Singh, 36; Adrian Balleza, 29; Jose Dejesus Hernandez III, 35; Timothy Michael Romo, 49; Michael Joseph Rudometkin, 40; Abdolvahab Alaghmandan, 63; and Lars Kepler Lane, 63, were all killed in the shooting.

Authorities said earlier on Wednesday that some of the victims were employees at the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) facility where the shooting took place around 6:30 a.m. PDT.

The facility is used as a transit center that stores trains and also has a maintenance yard.  

The shooter was identified as a male employee of the VTA, and authorities said they believed he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.  

Law enforcement identified the gunman as Sam Cassidy, according to The Associated Press.

Wednesday’s incident is the latest in a string of mass shootings over the past few months that have left multiple people dead.

At a news conference later on Wednesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) vented over the string of shootings and lack of action that has followed. 

“The hell’s wrong with us?” Newsom said. “And when are we going to come to grips with this? When are we going to put down our arms — literally and figuratively — our politics, stale rhetoric, finger-pointing, all the hand-wringing, consternation that produces nothing except more fury and frustration … over and over again?

President Biden has been briefed on the San Jose shooting, and lowered flags to half-staff to honor the victims.