One of six people hospitalized after a shooting at Santa Monica College Friday has died, according to a spokesman for a hospital where victims were sent.
Dr. Marshall T. Morgan, a spokesman for Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center said two other victims transported to the medical center remain hospitalized -- one in critical condition, the other with "minor injuries."
Three female victims at UCLA-Santa Monica Medical Center are in good condition.
One person is in custody after the shooting.
Two bodies were discovered inside a burned home where a gunman clad in SWAT-like gear was seen by a witness about a mile from Santa Monica College.
Authorities are attempting to determine whether the two crimes scenes and a carjacking are connected.
Officers responded to the Santa Monica College campus about noon after a gunman fired at a bus and other vehicles.
Witnesses reported seeing a gunman outside the burning home at Kansas and Yorkshire avenues (map) just minutes before the shots were fired at vehicles at Pearl Street and 17th Street (map).
"This guy just stepped out with a big rifle," bus passenger and student Marta Fagerstroem said of the shooting by Santa Monica College.
Fagerstroem told NBC4 she was studying as the bus, pictured below, traveled along Pico Boulevard when a gunman opened fire on the transit vehicle. The gunman came out of the passenger side of a car, she said.
The gunman had body armor, a helmet and "an assault rifle," a witness said.
Neighbors told NBC4 the gunman is related to people who lived at the home that was burned about one mile northwest of Santa Monica College.
Jerry Cunningham-Rathner said she heard gunshots and ran out of her home to see a man in front of a house across the street -- and the house was on fire.
Two cars slowed to a stop, and the gunman walked over to them, indicating a blue Mazda hatchback should pull over. He motioned to the second car to keep driving, Cunningham-Rathner said.
"He looked official, like a SWAT team guy, dressed in black with his belt full of ammo,” Cunningham-Rathner said. "You could smell the gunshots."
When the driver of the second car hesitated, the gunman fired two to three shots point blank into her car, Cunningham-Rathner said.
She ran into her home to call 911. When she came back outside, the gunman had gotten into the blue Mazda’s passenger seat and the female driver was pulling away in an apparent carjacking.
Cunningham-Rathner went to the aid of the woman who was shot. Authorities said a woman from that scene was hospitalized.
Three victims shot near the Santa Monica College campus, just blocks from the site of a fundraiser attended by President Barack Obama, were taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
A man was taken into custody near campus, though it was not immediately clear whether he was connected to the shooting. Witnesses described the gunman as a white male, but the man taken into custody does match witness descriptions.
As police were leading him into a squad car, the man told photographers, "No, I just went in to find my ex-girlfriend."
At about noon, witnesses reported a "fully armed" subject discharging a firearm at vehicles at the campus, according to the California Highway Patrol. The gunman opened fire on public transit bus and cars, according to California Highway Patrol Sgt. Denise Joslin.
A woman on the bus (pictured, right) was hit and was bleeding from her head, she said. A spokesman for UCLA Medical Center said the woman was in good condition with a flesh wound and was likely hit by shrapnel.
“Everyone threw themselves on the floor, screams,” passenger Fagerstroem said. “The bus driver, she panicked. She couldn’t drive away. She was able to, after a while.”
The Santa Monica Big Blue Bus had several visible bullet holes. There were reports of injuries involving bus passengers, said CHP Officer Kerri Rivas, a department spokeswoman.
The agency received several 911 calls involving reports of shots fired in the area.
"We are aware of at least one suspect, there may possibly be others," Joslin said.
The two-year college in the 1900 block of Pico Boulevard is on lockdown Friday afternoon. All schools in the Santa Monica area were on lockdown, according to the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.
Lockdown orders at Santa Monica High School were lifted about 3 p.m. The school’s graduation set for Friday evening will go on as scheduled, a student told NBC4. Lockdowns at 10 other campuses were also lifted.
Afternoon and evening finals on Santa Monica College's main campus scheduled for Friday were canceled.
As for the President's Santa Monica fundraiser, it was several blocks north of the campus. Air Force One departed LAX at about 2:30 p.m.
"We are aware of the incident and it is not impacting the visit. It’s a local police matter at this point," said Secret Service spokesman Edwin M. Donovan.
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Photo Credit: Getty Images