4 Die in Calif. Wrecking Yard Shooting
AP , Santa Maria: Mar 19 2008
Made Popular Mar 19 2008

Police alleged Wednesday that the son of an auto wrecking yard owner shot four people to death at the business, including at least one relative and two employees.

Panicked customers fled the busy yard Tuesday afternoon as the gunman shot his victims at close range, police said. The shootings were “very deliberate” and the suspect likely reloaded at least once, Santa Maria police Chief Danny Macagni said.

Lee Isaac Bedwell Leeds of Santa Maria was booked for investigation of murder and was held without bail. Police issued a news release saying witnesses at the scene identified the 31-year-old as the gunman.

At least one of those killed at Black Road Auto was related to Leeds, two were employees and the fourth victim appears to have been a customer of the business, investigators said. The wrecking yard is in the outskirts of Santa Maria, about 150 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

One victim was found in the junk yard’s office and three outside. Police said at least 10 shots were fired in the attack, but no one else was hurt.

“There were a lot of customers on the property, and they were running outside,” police Lt. Dan Ast said. “It was a pretty chaotic situation.”

One of the victims found outside still had a pulse, Ast said. While police searched for the gunman, paramedics were escorted onto the property under armed guard to treat the victim, but he did not survive, Ast said.

Ast told reporters late Tuesday that the suspect “took off running, tried to get over a fence and was captured.” The gunman discarded a semi-automatic handgun before he was taken into custody, and it was found later, police said.

A telephone listing for a Lee Leeds in the nearby town of Guadalupe rang to a fax machine. There was no phone listing for a Lee Leeds in Santa Maria itself.

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