Elections

Gunman dead after shooting spree kills one and shuts 2 Calif polling sites

California polling sites locked down after shooting
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California polling sites locked down after shooting

A gunman whose rampage killed one man and seriously wounded two women — leading to the lockdown of two election polling stations in the Los Angeles area — is dead, authorities said.

It is not clear if the gunman, who was armed with an assault rifle, killed himself or was fatally wounded during a shootout with police, according to The Associated Press.

The violence erupted near a middle school in a residential neighborhood in the town of Azusa, in Los Angeles County, after 2 p.m., according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department tweeted Tuesday night that the shooting "does not appear to have any direct connection to the election/polling places," but the Times quoted a law enforcement source as saying at least one victim was heading to vote.

One of the polling locations was an elementary school. One location has since re-opened.

SWAT team moves in on a barricaded suspect on Fourth Street east of Orange Avenue after several people were shot at that location in Azusa, Calif., Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016.
Leo Jarzomb | San Gabriel Valley Tribune | SCNG via AP

NBC4 in Los Angeles reported that officers responding to the scene were met with gunfire. The gunman soon after entered a house.

Police have not released the names of either the gunman or his victims.

The county's elections chief, Dean Logan, tweeted that "voters should avoid the area and, if necessary, cast a ballot at an alternate polling location."

Azusa is a city 46,000 residents in the San Gabriel Valley, 25 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.