San Jose railyard shooting

On May 26, 2021, a mass shooting occurred at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority railyard in San Jose, California, United States. 57-year-old Samuel J. Cassidy shot and killed eight people and injured an unknown amount before dying himself.

Shooting
In the early morning, 57-year-old Samuel J. Cassidy lit his home on fire, leaving it at 5:39 A.M. Around an hour later, Cassidy began the shooting at the railyard, the first 9-1-1 call being placed at 6:34 A.M. Police arrived during the shooting and automatically found multiple people shot. Cassidy carried out the shooting in two buildings on the property. Witnesses recall the shooter targeting certain people while completely ignoring others. Later, Cassidy shot himself in the head, police confirming his death at 8:00 A.M. Nine people were killed and numerous bombs were found within the building; at 7:37 A.M. a neighbor of Cassidy reported the blaze coming from his house. After the fire was put out, investigators found thousands of rounds of ammunition, Molotov cocktails and more firearms.

Victims
In total, nine people were killed, all of them men. The victims identified were:


 * Adrian Balleza, 29
 * Jose Hernandez III, 35
 * Tapetejdeep Singh, 36
 * Michael Rudometkin, 40
 * Paul Megia, 42
 * Alex Fritch, 49
 * Timothy Romo, 49
 * Abdolvahab Alaghmandan, 63
 * Lars Lane, 63

Perpetrator
Samuel J. Cassidy, 57, was an employee of the rail yard and repeatedly complained about his co-workers and made racist remarks against some of them. The day of the shooting, Cassidy was scheduled to attend a disciplinary hearing. His ex-wife Cecilia Nelms stated that he had talked about killing his co-workers over a decade ago but thought nothing of it. In total, Cassidy owned about fifteen guns and was arrested in 2016 for an unknown reason, however no further action was taken against him in regards to anything.

Reactions
President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and California Governor Gavin Newsom all condemned the shooting and called for gun control legislation to be enacted. San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo stated that it was a horrific day for the city and expressed his condolences towards the victims and their families. The VTA also offered their sympathies and stated they would create a public memorial and help survivors and families of the deceased.