The body of the northern California gunman's wife was found beneath the floor of their home, authorities say
Police have identified the gunman who killed five other people in a shooting rampage in northern California as 44-year-old Kevin Janson Neal.
Late on Tuesday, authorities found the body of Neal's wife concealed under the floorboards of her home.
Police say Neal picked his targets randomly, driving around the community and shooting at people from his car before landing at the Rancho Tehama Elementary School.
The gunman who opened fire on a northern California elementary school on Tuesday also killed his wife and hid her body underneath the floorboards of their home, authorities said.
Kevin Janson Neal, 44, likely began his shooting spree after he fatally shot his spouse, Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston said at a press conference Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles Times.
"We were looking for his wife and couldn't find her yesterday," Johnston told reporters. "We located her dead body concealed under the floor of the resident last night. … We believe that's what probably started this whole event."
Neal's rampage killed five people, including his wife, at multiple locations across the Rancho Tehama reserve, and injured 10 people, including several children.
Neal was killed in a shootout with sheriff's deputies roughly 45 minutes after the shooting began.
Among the dead is a female neighbor of Neal's who had taken out a restraining order against him, Johnston said. Neal had been arrested in January and charged with assaulting her with a deadly weapon, and he was out on bail at the time of the shooting.
Authorities and witnesses said Neal appeared to pick his targets randomly, driving around the community and shooting at people from his car before landing at the Rancho Tehama Elementary School, which immediately began its lockdown procedures and prevented him from entering the building.
One boy received gunshot wounds after Neal's bullets went through the school's windows, and other children were injured by the broken glass, authorities said. Johnston credited the school's swift lockdown for the lack of child fatalities — Neal abandoned the school within six minutes after he failed to enter the building.
"This incident, as tragic and as bad as it is, could have been so much worse if it wasn't for the quick thinking and staff at our elementary school," Johnston on Tuesday. "The quick action of those school officials — there is no doubt in my mind based on the video that I saw — saved countless lives and children."
