Bloody day in U.S.: Three killed, gunman dead in shooting at UPS building in San Francisco; congressman shot at Virginia baseball practice

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At least three people were killed and two injured when a man dressed in a UPS uniform let loose a barrage of gunfire Wednesday morning at the delivery company’s building in the Potrero Hill area of San Francisco, officials said.
In addition to the three dead, the gunman shot himself in the head when confronted by police inside the building and later died, Assistant Police Chief Toney Chaplin said.
Two other people were wounded, Chaplin said. Their conditions were not immediately known.
None of the victims’ names was released.
What appeared to be two bodies lay in the middle of 17th Street and San Bruno Avenue, covered with yellow tarps.
The shooting occurred at 8:55 a.m. at the building at 320 San Bruno Ave. Police declared the scene contained about 90 minutes later.
Some of those shot were taken to San Francisco General Hospital. Near the emergency room door, a woman in jeans and a sweatshirt who declined to give her name said she was waiting for news from doctors about the condition of her father, who she said was a UPS employee.
“My dad is in there and he was shot,” the woman said, shaking her head.
It was later learned that the woman’s father had died of his injuries.
A man in a brown UPS uniform who said he had been inside the four-storey building when the gunfire broke out said at least three people had been shot.
He said the shooter had a handgun and that he recognised him as a UPS employee.
Chaplin said there was no immediate confirmation that the gunman was a UPS employee. He said police recovered two guns.
Several people believed to be UPS employees stood on the rooftop parking area at the building with their hands raised, apparently to indicate they were not involved and needed assistance.
A man who lives a half block from the UPS center and who identified himself only as “Chino” said he saw several people, their bodies covered with blood, dragged from the building by uniformed officers or firefighters and loaded into ambulances.
“I was sick to my stomach, seeing those bodies,” Chino said. “They were looking pretty bad.”
Dozens of police cars, sheriff’s cars and fire department vehicles were in the area, along with several ambulances. Officers with drawn rifles stood in the street.
In the surrounding streets, family members of UPS workers began to gather. One woman, who declined to give her name, said her husband worked in the room for an employee meeting where the shooting occurred. He called her soon after the shooting to say, “I’m OK,” she said.
“Someone came up and just started shooting,” she said her husband told her over the phone. When the shooting started, she said her husband told her he ran for his life.
“He’s a mess right now,” she said. “I get to take my husband home and someone else doesn’t.”
At least 350 people work at the sprawling UPS building, which is a package sorting and delivery center.
The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was sending a team to the crime scene to help in the investigation.
UPS officials also issued a statement saying that police “have control of the facility” and that “the company is cooperating with law enforcement.”
The company said it could not identify the suspect or victims in the shooting.
In a related development, Police say a gunman opened fire on Republican members of Congress during a baseball practice near Washington early on Wednesday.
Police said that the gunman wounded several people including House of Representatives Majority Whip Steve Scalise before being taken into custody.
The shooter appeared to be a white male, “a little bit on the chubby side,’’ Representative Mo Brooks told CNN, adding that he only saw the man for a second.
Brooks said he heard 10 to 20 rounds from the gunman’s rifle before the security detail returned fire.
He said there were 20 to 25 members of team at the practice in Alexandria, Virginia, when the gunfire erupted.

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