San Jose shooter discussed killing people at work, ex-wife says

A man who opened fire at a rail yard where he was employed in San Jose, Calif., and killed eight people had talked about killing people at work, according to his ex-wife. 

“I never believed him, and it never happened. Until now,” Cecilia Nelms told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Nelms, who was married to Sam Cassidy for a decade before they divorced in 2005, said he would often come home upset about assignments at work. 

“He could dwell on things,” she told the AP, and said she had not been in touch with him in about 13 years. 

Police said Cassidy, who worked at the light rail facility for the Valley Transportation Authority, opened fire before 7 a.m. on Wednesday, killing several people before taking his own life. 

The Santa Clara County medical examiner’s office identified the following individuals who were killed during the attack, several of whom had worked at the station for years: 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. 

President Biden ordered flags at the White House to be flown at half-staff in the wake of the mass shooting. 

“Every life that is taken by a bullet pierces the soul of our nation. We can, and we must, do more,” Biden said.

“What the hell is going on in the United States of America?” California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) asked during a press conference following the incident, adding that the nation needs to “come to grips with” the growing trend of gun violence and mass shootings across the country. 

“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?” Newsom asked. 

Wednesday’s attack was the 15th mass killing in America this year, the AP noted.