California shooter still at large after killing 3, wounding 7

California shooter still at large after killing 3, wounding 7

2011-10-06 15:10:00 GMT+7 (ICT)

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA (BNO NEWS) -- A man went on a shooting rampage in California on Wednesday morning, killing at least three people and injuring seven others, officials said on Thursday. The suspect remains at large.

47-year-old Shareef Allman opened fire at the Lehigh Hanson Permanente Cement Plant in Cupertino, a city best known for being home to the headquarters of Apple, during a routine safety meeting at around 4.15 a.m. local time, local authorities told the San Jose Mercury News.

At the cement plant, Allman killed three coworkers before getting in his vehicle and leaving the scene. According to police, he later tried to hijack a woman's vehicle in the parking lot of a Hewlett Packard campus on Homestead Road, but failed. The woman was shot in her arm.

The local sheriff's office and SWAT teams launched a large-scale manhunt in the area, which includes a residential neighborhood near Homestead and Wolfe Roads. However, Allman remains at large as of Thursday.

Neighbors have expressed shock and described Allman, who is a single father of a 17-year-old girl, a local TV show producer, and writer, as a likable, well-dressed man, good parent, regular church-goer, and overall good person.

According to the newspaper, Allman produced a community TV show on San Jose's cable CreaTV. He is also the writer of a book called "Amazing Grace," which focuses on empowering women against domestic violence.

Police have been unable to capture the suspect, despite the deployment of canine teams, helicopters, and armored vehicles. Teams were seen moving through the neighborhoods but were only able to recover a shotgun, handgun, and two assault rifles which had been abandoned along with Allman's car.

Santa Clara Police Sgt. Ray Carreira had earlier stated that police thought they had Allman contained but they wound up empty-handed. The names of the victims were not immediately released.

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