One killed, 2 wounded in shooting in dental office near San Diego

One person was killed and two others wounded when a gunman opened fire in a dental office in the Southern California city of El Cajon on Thursday afternoon, authorities said. The suspect was taken into custody Thursday night following a manhunt. 

The El Cajon Police Department reported in a social media post that the suspect, identified as 29-year-old Mohammed Abdulkareem, had fled in a white U-Haul pickup truck with an Arizona license plate. A little after 10 p.m. local time, police reported that he had been captured. No details on the arrest were immediately provided. 

Shooting suspect, Mohammad Abdulkareem, has been located and taken into custody. pic.twitter.com/C5BAiemFGk

— El Cajon Police (@elcajonpolice) March 1, 2024

In a Thursday evening news briefing prior to the arrest, El Cajon police Capt. Rob Ransweiler said one victim, a male, died at the scene of the shooting. His name was not released. Two other people were taken to area hospitals with gunshot wounds and are expected to survive.

There was no word on a motive, and police did not elaborate on the circumstances that precipitated the incident.

The suspect was armed with a handgun, Ransweiler disclosed, adding that "there were other people inside of the office" at the time of the shooting.  

Ransweiler said investigators utilized the city's surveillance cameras to identify the suspect.

"We were able to obtain license plate information from the Flock camera system as the vehicle left the area," Ransweiler explained. "So we never saw the suspect on scene. And so...we were able to use that technology to identify the vehicle, confirm it was rented by the suspect."

El Cajon is located about 15 miles east of San Diego. 

In:
• Shooting
• El Cajon
• San Diego
• California
• Crime

Faris Tanyos

Faris Tanyos is a news editor for CBSNews.com, where he writes and edits stories and tracks breaking news. He previously worked as a digital news producer at several local news stations up and down the West Coast.