5 dead including toddler in Arizona shooting

LOS ANGELES – A gunman shot and killed four people including a toddler in the southwest US state of Arizona before turning the gun on himself Wednesday, officials and reports said.

The motive for the shooting in Gilbert, southeast of Phoenix, was unclear, said a municipal spokeswoman, while the Arizona Republic said that the gunman had had several firearms.

“Officers responded to a phone call on shots being fired. When they arrived on the scene they found four victims dead. One child was transported (to hospital) and later died,” spokeswoman Dana Berchman told AFP.

“We believe the shooter could be one of those victims,” she added, saying the child was a girl aged between one and three years.

The Arizona Republic cited Gilbert police Sergeant Bill Balafas as saying the gunman had committed suicide.

Two handguns and a shotgun were recovered from the scene, which was in a residential area, the newspaper reported. A nearby school was placed on partial lockdown, while a SWAT team sealed off part of the area.