Bruce Jeffrey Pardo is seen in an undated photo provided Thursday, Dec. 25, 2008, by the Covina, Calif. Police Department. Covina Police have identified the 45-year-old Prado as a "person of interest" after a man in a Santa suit opened fire at a Christmas Eve party in a suburban Los Angeles home that subsequently caught fire, leaving three people dead.SANTA CLAUS CHRISTMAS EVE MASSACRE
In Covina, Calif., police say a man Bruce Jeffrey Pardo reportedly dressed up as Santa Claus and opened fire at a Christmas Eve party being attended by his ex-wife, who is still missing. (So are her parents, who owned the house.) Police found six bodies in the house, which was set on fire during the attack. Three other people were injured. Pardo was later found at his brother's house, dead of an apparent gunshot wound.
The L.A. Times has a very detailed account. Apparently, an 8-year-old girl answered the door -- and Pardo shot her in the face. (Though it sounds like she made it to the hospital.) Pardo, an aerospace engineer who recently lost his job, reportedly used some kind of homemade device to spray a material used to spread the fire.
The Los Angeles County Coroner's office says eight bodies have been found in the rubble of a home set ablaze after a Christmas Eve shooting massacre. Investigators ended their search Thursday night for other possible victims of the rampage. Authorities planned to return to the scene Friday.
A Los Angeles County coroner's official says a ninth body has been recovered from a home where a gunman shot up a Christmas Eve party and set the house ablaze.
Coroner's Lt. Larry Dietz says the ninth body was found Friday morning in the gutted structure.
All of the bodies recovered from the home were badly burned and none have been positively identified.
Residents of a Los Angeles suburb where a man dressed as Santa Claus shot dead at least nine people have spoken of their disbelief at the killings.
Another body was found on Friday in the ashes of a house in the suburb of Covina that was gutted by fire.
Bruce Pardo burst into a Christmas Eve party at his ex-wife's parents' home, shooting and then starting the fire.
He took his life with a single shot to the head at his brother's home about 25 miles (40km) away, police said.
A Los Angeles County coroner's official has now confirmed that a ninth body has been found - all of them badly burned and none as yet positively identified.
Local media have reported that Pardo's ex-wife and in-laws were among the dead but this has not been officially confirmed.
Covina police chief Kim Raney and Lt Pat Buchanan hold a news conference
One of Pardo's co-workers at a Catholic church, Jan Detanna, told the Whittier Daily News that the unemployed aerospace engineer was "the nicest guy" who "always had a smile".
Details have emerged that Pardo, 45, had reached a divorce settlement just a few days before the attack.
Court documents showed the two-year marriage ended with an award of $10,000 to Sylvia Pardo along with their dog and her wedding ring, while Bruce Pardo took the house.
Bruce Pardo's lawyer, Stanley Silver, told the Associated Press news agency his client had fallen behind on marital support when he lost his job in July.
Pardo had knocked on the door of the home just before midnight, shooting in the face an eight-year-old girl who answered the door, police said. She is being treated for her wounds.
He then sprayed the 25 guests with bullets before setting fire to the house with a home-made incendiary device.
FOR MORE ON THE COVINA CHRISTMAS SANTA SLAYINGS
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