Death toll from Christmas shooting rises to six

Death toll from Christmas shooting rises to six

Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, the only suspect in a shooting in Covina, California on December 24, 2008, is seen in this undated handout photo.

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from a Christmas Eve shooting in Convina of Los Angeles has risen to six, police said on Thursday.

The shooting occurred Wednesday night when a distraught man, dressed as Santa Claus, opened fire at a Christmas Party and then set the house ablaze, according to police.

At least six people were killed in the incident, police said.

Three people who attended the party remained unaccounted for Thursday afternoon as rescuers continued to search through the wreckage, police said.

The suspect, a 45-year-old man, was found dead Thursday morning from self-inflicted gunshot wounds, said police.

The man, Bruce Jeffery Pardo, was believed to have committed suicide around 3:30 a.m. on Christmas at his home in Sylmar, a suburb about 50 km north of downtown Los Angeles, after his shooting spree at the Christmas Eve gathering.

Pardo was in a Santa Claus suit when he showed up at the Christmas party and began shooting, before torching the house, according to police spokesman Pat Buchanan.

Police did not release information about the dead, but said that a 8-year-old girl and a woman in her 20s wounded in the attack are expected to survive.

Pardo, who was reportedly estranged from his wife and in a messy divorce, used cocktails to set the house on fire, according to local television reports.

Describing the incident as "extremely unusual and very shocking," Buchanan said that the killings were just not something people saw at any time of the year, especially during Christmas.

About 80 firefighters arrived at the scene soon after the fire was reported, but were held at bay as the house burned and police tried to make sure it was safe. The house was completely destroyed by the fire, which later was put out by firefighters.

Police said they have no information about who were at the party and whether they were related to the killer.