The suspected shooter is critically wounded and being treated at a local hospital. Police are still investigating a possible motive.
A small Southern California city is shaken after four people were killed, including a 9-year-old boy who was being held in a woman's arms when police arrived, according to authorities.
"It appears that a little boy died in his mother's arms as she was trying to save him during this horrific massacre," Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said at a press conference Thursday. He added later that the exact relationship between the young boy and the woman is still being investigated.
Another two people were injured, including the suspected shooter, police said.
Officers at the Orange Police Department were called into an active shooting Wednesday around 5:30 p.m. at a business complex in the city of Orange, where they discovered multiple victims at the scene, police said. No officers were injured.
The shooting took place on two levels of the building. Several businesses are inside the complex, including an insurance office and a phone-repair store, according to reports.
"Well, I can tell you, Orange is a very safe city and we don't have stuff like this that happens very often. It's been many, many years before we had an incident like this happen," Lieutenant Jennifer Amat of the Orange Police Department said at a press conference.
One woman is currently in critical condition at being treated at a local hospital.
The suspect has not been publicly identified but is in the hospital being treated for a gunshot wound.
"It's a very tragic incident and we're doing our very best to make sure that it's investigated thoroughly," Amat added. "The preliminary motive is believed to be related to a business and personal relationship which existed between the suspect and all of the victims," Lt. Jennifer Amat said.
The shooting in Orange was the deadliest mass shooting in the city since 1997 that left four workers and the gunman dead, according to NBC.
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