LOS ANGELES (AP) — A drive-by shooter went on a "mass murder" rampage near a Santa Barbara university campus that left seven people dead, including the attacker, and seven others wounded, authorities said Saturday.
The gunman exchanged gunfire with deputies at the end of Friday night's rampage in the beachside community of Isla Vista and crashed his black BMW into a parked car, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.
Deputies found him dead with a gunshot wound to the head, but it wasn't immediately clear whether he was killed by gunfire or if he committed suicide, he said.
A semiautomatic handgun was recovered from the scene near the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Investigators know the gunman's name, but Brown said he couldn't release it pending notification of relatives.
"We're analyzing both written and videotaped evidence that this atrocity was a premeditated mass murder," Brown said.
The rampage broke out around 9:30 p.m. in the student enclave reputed for parties, including an annual spring bash that turned into a violent blowout last month. Brown said the shootings occurred at several sites, resulting in nine crime scenes.
