Love and Obsession

[theking]

Multiple people are dead after a retired police officer opened fire at a biker bar in Orange County

A retired police sergeant opened fire at a popular biker bar in Southern California on Wednesday evening, killing at least three people and injuring at least six others before he was killed in a standoff with the police, the authorities said.


A mass shooting occurred at an Orange County biker bar on Wednesday night.

The sheriff's department said four were confirmed dead at the scene, including the shooter.

The gunman was reportedly a retired law enforcement officer, per the Los Angeles Times.

Multiple people were killed on Wednesday night in a mass shooting at an Orange County biker bar, per the local sheriff's department.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday that there was a shooting at Cook's Corner in Trabuco Canyon.

"Confirmed 4 deceased at scene, inc. the shooter. 6 transported to hospitals, 5 reported w/gunshot wounds," the sheriff's department said in a follow-up post, adding that no deputies were injured.

The gunman was a retired Ventura County law enforcement officer, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times, citing two sources who spoke anonymously.

The Los Angeles Daily News said the shooting likely escalated from a domestic dispute, citing unnamed sources. An unnamed law enforcement official told The New York Times that the gunman was going after his estranged wife.

"Heartbroken to hear of another senseless mass shooting, this time in our own backyard," Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley said in a post on X. "My office has received updates from the DA and Sheriff's Department, I am continuing to watch this closely."

[theking]

California Bar Massacre Suspect ID’d as ‘Crazy’ Newly Divorced Ex-Cop

The man accused of shooting three people dead and injuring six others at a California bar on Wednesday night has been identified as John Snowling, a retired cop, authorities said Thursday.

Snowling, a 59-year-old former cop in Ventura, died in a shootout with law enforcement after he unleashed what witnesses described as over “100 rounds” at the Cook’s Corner bar, a historic hangout for bikers in Orange County—about 120 miles from where Snowling was once an officer.

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer identified Snowling in a Thursday press conference. He did not say what Snowling’s motive was, but law enforcement sources told The Los Angeles Times that he was targeting his estranged wife, Marie Snowling, who was reportedly shot in the lower jaw but survived.

Records show that Marie filed for divorce in December. Her father, William Mosby, told the Los Angeles Daily News that Snowling was a “crazy husband” who was not taking the divorce well.

James Goldsmith, a former neighbor of the couple, said Snowling was “always kind of a standoffish kind of person,” and that Marie was divorcing him because he never wanted to leave the house.

“I think it reached a point where it felt like life was passing [Marie] by because [Snowling] didn’t want to do anything,” he told the Times. “He would barely maintain the house. I think she wanted to have friends and live life and that’s why I think she made the move that she did. It’s sad that he couldn’t allow that and let her live her own life.”

Goldsmith said the couple moved to separate homes once they split—Marie to Orange County with her ailing mother, Snowling to Ohio. Goldsmith said he sensed Snowling was “controlling” over Marie’s life. He said he didn’t know if Marie was in a new relationship, but she was an “absolute sweetheart” who was more social than Snowling.

John Snowling appearing in a news article in The Los Angeles Times in 2000.

Snowling was photographed by the Los Angeles Times in 2000 while patrolling the Pacific View Mall in Ventura, about 60 miles up the coast from Los Angeles. He told the paper back then, “This isn’t LA, where we have shootings and stabbings.” Records show he was employed by the Ventura Police Department between 1986 and 2014, retiring as a sergeant.