US man who shot three at store calls mother to confess before killing himself

Los Angeles:

A gunman who killed three people in what US police said was a random attack, called his mother and then shot himself in Washington state on Tuesday.

The depressing episode came on the heels of two mass shootings in California that killed 18 people as the United States again grapples with the horrors of rising gun violence.

Police in Yakima say a man they previously named as local Jarrid Haddock, 21, shot people in and around a convenience store overnight before fleeing.

Authorities launched a massive manhunt across the city of 100,000 people, which lies 160 kilometers southeast of Seattle, warning that the wanted man was armed and dangerous.

Yakima Police Chief Matthew Murray said early Tuesday, “It appears to be a random situation.”

“There was no apparent struggle between the parties. They just walked in and started shooting.”

Hours later, police received a 911 emergency call from a woman who said the wanted man had borrowed her phone.

“He then called his mother and made a series of offensive statements, including ‘I killed those people’,” Murray told reporters.

“He made several statements to her that he was then going to kill himself.”

First responders raced to the scene near a supermarket, arriving in time to hear gunshots as he killed himself.

“They provided medical care and tried to save his life, but he was later pronounced dead.”

The shooting in Yakima was the latest incident of gun violence to shake the United States.

Seven people were killed on Monday at two agricultural sites south of San Francisco when a Chinese-American farm worker is believed to have opened fire on his colleagues.

Some of his victims are also believed to be Chinese.

On Saturday night, an elderly Asian man vandalized a dance studio in Monterey Park near Los Angeles, killing 11 people gathered for a Lunar New Year celebration.

Huệ Canh Tran shot himself several hours later as police entered his van.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)