Train driver among victims of San Jose shooting

Bagga Singh says his cousin is among the victims of Wednesday's mass shooting in a San Jose rail yard that left nine people dead, including the shooter.

Singh said a Santa Clara County Sheriff's official told him his cousin Taptejdeep Singh, 36, was fatally shot inside a light rail facility of the Valley Transportation Authority.

"The lady I think came from the sheriff's department, she told us. She said she has bad news for us. We can't believe for that. It's unbelievable," said Singh, speaking outside a Red Cross center where victims' families gathered to find out information about their loved ones.

Singh said his cousin lived in Union City, Calif. and had a wife, two small children and many family members.

His cousin had worked as a light rail train driver for eight or nine years, Singh said.

Singh said he has no idea why the gunman targeted his cousin.

"We heard that he chose the people to shot, but I don't know why they choose him because he has nothing to do with him. We heard that a couple people he was on the gunpoint and he said no, no, you go, you go. Some people he choose to kill or something."

Singh and his relatives still can't believe what happened to his cousin.

"Sometimes we heard of other cities or other states, there's a shooting in the mall, shooting in the cinema hall. But we never thought this would happen to us too over here."

An employee opened fire Wednesday at a California rail yard, killing eight people before taking his own life as law enforcement rushed in, authorities said, marking the latest attack in a year that has seen a sharp increase in mass killings as the nation emerges from coronavirus restrictions.

The shooting took place around 6:30 am in two buildings that are part of a light rail facility for the Valley Transportation Authority, which provides bus, light rail and other transit services throughout Santa Clara County, the most populated county in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The facility in San Jose includes a transit-control center, parking for trains and a maintenance yard.

The victims were identified by the Santa Clara County coroner's office Wednesday night: Paul Delacruz Megia, 42; Taptejdeep Singh, 36; Adrian Balleza, 29; Jose Dejesus Hernandez, 35; Timothy Michael Romo, 49; Michael Joseph Rudometkin, 40; Abdolvahab Alaghmandan, 63, and Lars Kepler Lane, 63.

A man wounded in the attack was in critical condition at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, spokesperson Joy Alexiou said.

The attacker was identified as 57-year-old Sam Cassidy, according to two law enforcement officials.

Investigators offered no immediate word on a possible motive.