Gunman who killed pensioner and shot two women, one in the face, had been on 24 hour cocaine binge before rampage near US polling stations
Heavily armed shooter who opened fire in Los Angeles was 'gun fanatic' former military man whose terrified wife had left the family home with their two children fearing for their safety
A GUNMAN who opened fire near two US polling stations killing a 77-year-old man and wounding two women was high on cocaine when he went on his rampage.
The 45-year-old, who caused chaos before he was shot dead by cops, was involved in a stand-off with police before they killed him.
Local government official Dean Logan advised voters to find other polling sites to cast their ballots.
He tweeted at the the time: "Voters should avoid the area and, if necessary, cast a ballot at an alternate polling location,"
A woman inside one of the affected polling stations said she heard shots ring out before officials placed the area on lockdown.
Some 30 people were inside when the incident unfolded, she said.
"At first, I thought it was construction but people came running into the room saying they see a guy with a bulletproof vest and a white shirt," she told CNN.
"As of right now, they just have us in the voting room and are trying to keep us calm."
Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. John Corina said on Wednesday the shooting “had nothing to do with the ballot or voting."
The man was a known gun fanatic who had been bingeing on cocaine at least 24 hours before he opened fire randomly.
According to Corina, his wife had left the family home on Monday evening with their two children because he was "getting out of control."
Cops found rounds of ammo, a shotgun and handgun in their house.
A known military man, witnesses said he "started shooting randomly at people and cars" just after 2pm.
A woman driving a van was shot, along with 77-year-old Francis Varney.
The man walked up to him and took aim after the pensioner stepped outside to see what was going on.
Another woman was also wounded - both ladies, aged 59 and 65, were hospitalized in critical condition.
One of them had a gunshot wound to the face, and the other to her body.
Cops arrived on the scene and the man started taking aim and shooting - they fired back, and the man was fatally wounded.
He then died after staggering to the entryway of a nearby home - cops said they didn’t know if he was killed by police or from a self-inflected gunshot wound.
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