Neighbors Recount How Quiet Santa Monica Neighborhood Erupted Into Violence

Tom O'Rourke, a longtime Santa Monica resident, was reading a newspaper in his apartment when his quiet neighborhood erupted in gunfire.

"They were loud. Boom, boom. Like nothing I've ever heard," O'Rourke said, adding that he ran to the back of his house to find shelter.

When he emerged, the shooter, believed to be the son of a neighbor, was walking around with a rifle on the corner of Yorkshire and Kansas avenues.

"I didn't even recognize him at first," O'Rourke said, adding that he stood with neighbors as the shooter and a woman drove by slowly, and looked him "dead in the eye."

"Why he spared us, I don't know," O'Rourke said. Others were not so lucky.

Police found two people dead in the home, which caught fire. They are believed to be the brother and father of the suspect, who has not been named.

Janet Carter, who lives down the street, said she joined Tom to help a woman who was shot in a car across the street.

"We're a neighborhood," Carter said.

The neighborhood was what police believe was the starting point for a shooting rampage that ended at Santa Monica College. Five people were killed, including the shooter.

Check back shortly for more on this story.

Complete Coverage of Shooting Violence in Santa Monica

• 5 Killed in Santa Monica Shootings
• Santa Monica Schools Impacted; Samohi Graduation Goes On as Planned 
  
• Shootings Change Obama’s Travel Plans
  
• Santa Monica Reacts to Violence at SMC
• SMC Cancels Weekend Events, Offers Support Services
  
• Police Search Mar Vista Unit for Santa Monica Shooting Link
• Neighbors Recount How Quiet Neighborhood Erupted Into Violence
• SMC Working on Plan for Students to Retrieve Property Left on Campus
  
• Police Release Details About Santa Monica Shootings
• Counseling Availble for Santa Monica College Students