The suspect in Thursday afternoon's shooting in El Cajon that left one person dead and two others injured, 29-year-old El Cajon resident Mohammed Abdulkareem, was taken into custody later that night, police said.
The arrest came after the U-Haul pickup truck used by the suspect was found around 9:15 p.m. outside Balboa Park near Sixth Avenue and Quince Street. San Diego police officers took the suspect into custody shortly after, near where they located the vehicle, Capt. Rob Ransweiler with the El Cajon Police Department (ECPD) said.
The Shooting
El Cajon police responded to the shooting at a dental office near the intersection of Magnolia and Madison avenues at around 4:15 p.m. Thursday.
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"There are three victims," according to Ransweiler. He said the person who was killed was a man, and the other two victims, who were both taken to area hospitals, were a man in his 40s and a woman in her 20s. Ransweiler added that both victims were "stable" and that all the victims were shot with a handgun.
"There were a lot of family members on scene," Ransweiler said.
Father of one of the shooting victims speaks to NBC 7
Local
Jose Antonio identified his only daughter, Yareli, as one of the shooting victims. He said she is 27 years old and works in the front office of the dental office.
Antonio said his daughter does not know the shooter.
Just after 6 p.m., ECPD identified the suspect as Abdulkareem and warned the public that he was considered armed and dangerous.
Abdulkareem took off in a white U-Haul pickup truck with an Arizona license plate, El Cajon police said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Ransweiler said at a news briefing that video of the vehicle was captured by the city's Flock traffic-camera system.
At least half a dozen police cars were at the shooting scene, and officers were seen searching the area and surrounding buildings. First responders could be seen providing aid to a person down on the sidewalk.
The shooting took place inside the dental office, Ransweiler said, and because it was still an active scene when officers arrived, the male who was killed was brought outside by officers so that they could attempt to provide lifesaving aid.
Sarkar Shiro, who told NBC 7 that he lives across the street from the shooting, went to the scene after hearing police officers and a helicopter. He said safety in the area has never been a big concern for him.
"There's always a lot of traffic, foot traffic, a lot going on in this area, but nothing to this extent," Shiro told NBC 7.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is at the scene assisting with the investigation, according to a spokesperson for ATF Los Angeles Field Division. FBI San Diego is also assisting as needed, the agency wrote in a statement to NBC 7.
