4 dead, 6 injured in SoCal biker bar shooting

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A gunman who opened fire at a beloved California bar popular with bikers, leaving three people dead, is a former law enforcement officer who targeted his wife, three sources said.

The shooter was also dead after the incident at Cook’s Corner in Trabuco Canyon just after 7 p.m., officials said.

Four people in all were pronounced dead at the scene, including the gunman, officials said. Six other people were transported to a hospital, five of whom had gunshot wounds, Orange County Fire Chief Brian Fennessy said.

Orange County sheriff's deputies encountered the armed man and a shooting that involved multiple deputies, leaving the gunman dead, Undersheriff Jeff Hallock said.

Two of the injured were in critical condition, Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo said in a statement. The four others were stable, it said.

Three law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation said the gunman targeted his wife, but it was not clear whether she was among the dead or injured. The sources stressed details were preliminary and did not identify where he previously worked.

Hallock said at least one weapon was recovered. He said that investigators were also looking at whether the gunman was a former member of law enforcement but that it was too early to confirm any of that.

"We're working to confirm that, and would expect to have that information maybe tomorrow, if in fact it's true," he said.

When deputies arrived, their radios captured the sound of gunfire, which was heard by dispatchers, Hallock said. It was not clear whether that was the shooting involving deputies.

"It is our understanding that dispatch could hear gunshots going off in the background," he said.

Cook’s Corner advertises itself as one of the most famous biker bars in Southern California, and it goes back to the 1930s.

It opened in 1931 as a roadside hamburger restaurant, later became a bar and was discovered by bikers in the 1970s, the Los Angeles Times reported in a history of the establishment published in 2005.

Around 30 to 40 witnesses were not injured, Hallock said. Investigators were conducting interviews Wednesday night.

The retired police officer who killed three people at a popular Southern California restaurant Wednesday shot his estranged wife and another woman and then randomly fired at patrons, the Orange County sheriff said.

The bloodshed unfolded just after 7 p.m. at Cook’s Corner in Trabuco Canyon, about 50 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, officials said.

Sheriff’s deputies killed the gunman, retired Ventura Police Sgt. John Snowling, after he fired at them with a 12-gauge shotgun, Sheriff Don Barnes said at a news conference Thursday.

Snowling, 59, traveled from Ohio, where he had moved, to Southern California before he carried out the deadly shooting, Barnes said. It is believed he went to Southern California and then to Cook’s Corner when he determined his wife would be there, Barnes said.

Snowling entered the bar and restaurant with two handguns and immediately shot his wife, who was seeking a divorce, and a woman she was sharing a meal with, Barnes said.

“Mr. Snowling, the suspect, then began randomly shooting at patrons within Cook's Corner,” Barnes said. He then moved to an outside area, Barnes said.

The woman who was with Snowling’s wife died later. Two other men were also killed, Barnes said.

Six other people were shot, two of whom were in critical condition Thursday, officials said. All are stable.

Snowling’s wife was shot and injured, but she was conscious and speaking, Barnes said.

Snowling was a sergeant with the Ventura Police Department before he retired around a decade ago, according to the department. He worked in the oceanside town from July 1986 through February 2014.

He was also president of the union and worked a variety of duties for the department, including patrol, traffic and homeless outreach.

“He just had very normal career, nothing really else to report,” Ventura Police Cmdr. Sarah Heard said.

A friend of Snowling's wife, who was with her at the bar Wednesday night, said she had filed for divorce against Snowling.

Ventura County Superior Court records show that the divorce proceedings started Dec. 21 and that the matter was still ongoing.

Attorneys for the divorcing pair couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Thursday.

Investigators aren’t aware of any domestic violence restraining order, Barnes said. Snowling didn’t have a criminal history.

Snowling had three handguns — a .380-caliber pistol, a .38-caliber five-shot revolver and a .25-caliber pistol — and a 12-gauge shotgun, Barnes said.

He had two handguns when he went into Cook’s Corner and opened fire, and he then went back to his parked truck and got a third handgun and the shotgun, Barnes said.

One of the two men who were killed "made an attempt to encounter the suspect in the back parking lot" to stop the rampage, Barnes said.

After Snowling got the third handgun and the shotgun from the truck in the parking lot, seven deputies either encountered him or fired at him as he shot at them, Barnes said.