Andre Turner, So Cal Edison Shooter, Seemed 'Like A Real Stand-Up Guy'
LOS ANGELES — One victim remained hospitalized Sunday as authorities searched for a motive after an employee shot four co-workers, killing two, before turning the gun on himself at a utility office east of Los Angeles.
Angela Alvarez, 46, was in critical condition following Friday's shooting inside a complex that houses more than a thousand Southern California Edison employees. There was no new information on her condition.
Authorities have identified the shooter as Andre Turner, 48, of Norco in Riverside County. Investigators say Turner methodically picked off his co-workers with a semiautomatic handgun, and then shot himself.
Turner's death was ruled a suicide, Los Angeles County coroner's Lt. Larry Dietz told The Associated Press. Turner, a systems analyst at Edison, had worked at the company for seven years, utility spokesman Steven Conroy said.
Abhay Pimpale, a 38-year-old independent contractor from Montebello, was also injured. He was released from the hospital Saturday. Pimpale, the father of a 3-year-old son and a newborn baby, declined to speak to reporters, telling KCAL-TV he only wanted to "spend time with my family."
The two other men killed were Henry Serrano, 56, of Walnut, and Robert Scott Lindsay, 53, of Chino Hills, coroner and company officials said. Turner and Lindsay died at the scene. Serrano died while being taken to a hospital, the coroner's office said.
Lindsay was a manager in the IT division at Edison and worked for the company for 29 years, company officials said. He was married and was a father. Serrano, a manager in the same area, was with the company for 26 years.
All five people worked in the same area of the same building at the office park in Irwindale, a small industrial city in the San Gabriel Valley, authorities said.
Authorities have released no information on a possible motive for what the Edison statement called "one of the most horrific events the company has experienced in its 125-year history."
Turner's wife, Jean Turner, wrote in a brief statement given to KTLA, "We are in shock and still trying to process this tragic event. Our hearts and prayers go out to all the victims and their families."
Deidre Corbin, a neighbor in an upscale neighborhood near a golf club in Norco, said she spoke with Jean Turner shortly after the shooting was reported.
"I had asked her if she received a call, a text, or anything from him," Corbin told KCAL-TV. "She said that she hadn't heard anything."
It was not until hours later that Jean Turner learned it was her husband who authorities identified as the gunman.
Robert Young, a 49-year-old telemarketer who lives across the street from Turner's home, told the Riverside Press-Enterprise that "everything looked completely normal over there."
"I never had an inkling he'd do something like that," Young said. "But who knows what happens in somebody's mind? People say, `He lived in that nice house, in a nice neighborhood, what could be wrong?'"
The Press-Enterprise reported Sunday that Turner bought his 5,000 square-foot, five-bedroom house near the Hidden Valley Golf Club for $711,000 when it was new in 2004.
The Riverside County assessor's office shows its current value as $543,000 and it was put up for sale in November for $590,000, the newspaper said.
Horrified employees barricaded themselves behind locked doors and hid under desks Friday afternoon as Turner walked through the office firing a semi-automatic handgun, authorities said.
The office complex and nearby schools were locked down as the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department's SWAT team responded to several 911 calls.
No gunfire was exchanged after officers arrived, and police believed Turner acted alone.
In the hours after the shooting, police cars, ambulances and fire trucks surrounded the building, and dozens of workers emerged with their hands over their heads.
The complex is surrounded by a fence and patrolled by a security guard. Employees need a security card to get into the building, said Gil Alexander, a spokesman for Southern California Edison. About 230 employees work in the building where the shooting took place, and about 1,100 employees work in the complex. Edison didn't say whether the facility would be reopened Monday.
The company said it was offering grief counseling for employees and is establishing a fund to support the victims' families. Edison will donate $100,000 and seek employee contributions.
Irwindale is a city of about 1,400 residents, 22 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. It is home to the Irwindale Speedway auto racetrack and large rock and gravel quarries.
Southern California Edison, a huge utility that provides power for most of the region, is one of its largest companies, employing 2,100 people.
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Associated Press writers Christopher Weber and Denise Petski in Los Angeles and Greg Risling in Irwindale contributed to this report.
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ANDREW DALTON 12/18/11 10:03 PM ET Associated Press