In the early morning hours, as a shift change was occurring at a light rail maintenance yard in downtown San Jose, California, shots began to ring out.
As employees scrambled, ducking for cover and wondering just why in the world this was happening, an employee of the company there mercilessly fired upon them. When the dust settled, 9 were dead including the suspect, who took his own life as police closed in.
Authorities have now identified that suspect, and one of his ex-girlfriends has had no problem speaking out about him.
The suspect was identified Wednesday as Samuel Cassidy, 57, who was a VTA employee, officials said. No motive is known for the shooting at this time.
An ex-girlfriend told the San Francisco Chronicle he was prone to alcohol-fueled mood swings and had been accused in a March 2009 court filing of rape and abuse. The documents were filed in response to a domestic violence restraining order that Cassidy had filed earlier that month.
The former girlfriend alleged his mood swings worsened when he drank alcohol and that he played “several mind games which he seems to enjoy.” She listed several incidents of alleged sexual assault in which he would hold her arms and force his weight onto her.
He would apologize and promised to never do it again afterward, the report said.
Cassidy’s home was the site of an attempted arson this morning as well, just before he carried out his horrid massacre, leading many to believe that the gunman was also responsible for that.
