Gunman leaves four dead after violent rampage in California (VIDEO)

Feb 20 2013 By Cheryl Mullin

A VIOLENT rampage left four dead and a 25-mile trail of carnage after a gunman killed a 20-year-old woman in his southern California home and sped away in his parents’ car.

In the next hour Ali Syed killed two more people during car-jackings, shot up vehicles on a busy highway and left three others injured.

One driver was forced from his BMW at a stop sign, marched to a kerb and shot in the back of the head as other commuters watched in horror.

“He was basically executed,” Santa Ana policeman Anthony Bertagna said. “There were at least six witnesses.”

Syed later killed himself. He lived with his parents at a property where the first victim, an unidentified woman in her 20s, died, Tustin police chief Scott Jordan said.

He said that Syed was unemployed, taking one class at a local community college.

The woman was not related to the shooter. Syed’s parents were in the house at the time, fled when shots were fired, and reported it, Mr Jordan said.

He said there was no indication of a motive for the shootings.

The violence began early yesterday when police responded to a call from Ladera Ranch, a sleepy inland town about 55 miles from Los Angeles. They found the woman shot multiple times.

From Ladera Ranch, police said Syed headed north and pulled off a highway in Tustin, about 20 miles away, with a flat tyre and other damage to his parents’ car.