“It looks like a small child died in his mother’s arms while trying to save him during this horrific massacre,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer told a news conference Thursday, though he later added that the exact nature of their relationship was still under investigation.
“The preliminary reason is believed to be related to a personal and business relationship that existed between the suspect and all the victims,” Orange Police Department spokeswoman Jennifer Amat said at a news conference Thursday.
“It was not an act of random violence,” he said.
Five 911 calls arrived around 5:34 p.m., Amat said, and officers were at the complex about 30 miles south of Los Angeles about two minutes later.
When they arrived, they heard gunshots fired inside, but were unable to enter immediately. From the inside, the building’s patio doors were closed “by a bicycle-type cable lock,” Amat said.
It is unclear whether they intended to keep the victims inside or outside the officers, police officials said.
What did the police find when they entered
After relating to the suspect and firing shots, police used screw cutters to enter the courtyard and found the suspect, who was injured, and arrested him. Police had previously said it was unclear whether his wound was self-inflicted.
In the courtyard, police also found the boy and the adult woman who survived. She was taken to a local hospital, where she is in critical but stable condition, Amat said.
In addition to the boy, the murders were two women and a man, Amat said.
One of the women was found upstairs on an outside landing. The man was found inside an office building and the other woman was found in a separate office building, according to Amat.
The suites where some victims were found belonged to a business identified as unified homes, said Amat, a real estate business specializing in mobile homes.
Investigators recovered a semi-automatic pistol and a backpack containing pepper spray, handcuffs and ammunition, which authorities said belonged to the suspect.
The victims
On Friday, the Orange police department identified the four victims as 9-year-old Matthew Farias; Jenevieve Raygoza, 28; Leticia Solis Guzman, 58; and Luis Tovar, 50 years old.
The suspect
Police identified the suspect as Aminadab Gaxiola González, 44, of Fullerton, California. He is in a local hospital in critical but stable condition, Amat said.
Authorities had said he would be tried Friday afternoon and face four counts of murder, one attempted murder and two counts of attempted murder by a police officer.
But the hearing was delayed until Monday. Public Defender Ken Morrison told CNN that Gonzalez is not in a position to make a smart decision about his case and is unaware at the time.
“The prosecution also alleges the special circumstance of several murders,” according to the district prosecutor’s office.
Gonzalez, who is believed to be living in a motel room in Anaheim, arrived at the resort with a rental car and parked it nearby, Amat said.
A preliminary investigation by police officials concluded that the suspect was using a legally purchased firearm, he added.
The research
Authorities remained on the scene Thursday to complete the investigation.
Spitzer said investigators were there for two reasons: to investigate the mass shooting, as well as the shooting aspect of the case involved by the agent, to ensure both objectivity and transparency.
Spitzer emphasized that the suspect is eligible for the death penalty under California law because there were multiple casualties.
Prosecutors are also studying whether the fact that the doors were closed constitutes “an ambush,” Spitzer said, a special circumstance that would also make the suspect eligible for the death penalty.
During his tenure, Spitzer said he had reviewed about 20 murder cases to see if he was pursuing the death penalty, but has never filed a death case.
“Asking a jury to deliver a death verdict is the most serious consequence we ask for, and it is the only consequence in which a jury makes the decision instead of a judge,” he said.
CNN’s Alexandra Meeks, Sarah Moon, Joe Sutton and Holly Yan contributed to this report.