SAN FRANCISCO -- A UPS employee opened fire at one of the company's package delivery facilities in San Francisco on Wednesday, killing three co-workers and then himself as officers closed in and workers ran frantically into the streets, police and company officials said.
Two other UPS employees were wounded in the shooting that prompted a widespread police response in an industrial neighborhood, Assistant Police Chief Toney Chaplin said.
UPS spokesman Steve Gaut said the shooter was a company employee. A San Francisco Police Department official identified him as Jimmy Lam of San Francisco but had no immediate details on his background, noting the name is common in the San Francisco Bay Area and finding information required significant record searches.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
Officials, UPS employees and neighbors described chaos and panic as shots rang out during a morning meeting before drivers were sent on their delivery routes.
"They were all in rapid succession," Raymond Deng, a 30-year-old tech worker who lives across the street from the warehouse, said of the gunshots. "It was like tat, tat, tat, tat, tat, tat, tat."
Police arrived in minutes.
"This was a frightful scene," Chaplin said. He said officers found two victims outside and others inside and pulled the wounded to safety as they confronted the gunman, who was armed with an "assault pistol."
"The suspect put the gun to his head and discharged the weapon," Chaplin said, adding that police did not fire any shots.
Chaplin said police have not determined a motive and were interviewing families of victims and witnesses to piece together what led the gunman to act.
Mayor Ed Lee said authorities saved lives with a "very proactive response."
"It could have been worse," he said. "Lives were saved today."
It was not immediately clear how many employees were at the facility, but UPS said the warehouse employs 350 people. The shooter and all the victims were employees, UPS said in a statement.
UPS driver Marvin Calderon told KNTV that he recognized the gunman as a fellow employee, but he did not know him personally.
"I just started running out like crazy, like I've never run before," Calderon told the TV station.
Information for this article was contributed by Janie Har, Sudhin Thanawala, Jocelyn Gecker and Mike Balsamo of The Associated Press.
A Section on 06/15/2017