California Greyhound Bus Shooting Suspect ID'd As Sacramento Man

OROVILLE, CA — A Sacramento man was identified Thursday as the gunman accused of opening fire on five people Wednesday night on a Greyhound bus in Oroville, killing a woman and wounding four others, including a pregnant woman and child.

Asaahdi Elijah Coleman, 21, of Sacramento, boarded the bus in Redding and later shot five passengers with a 9 mm handgun, the sheriff's office said at a news conference Thursday morning. The bus was filled with about two dozen people. He then ran off after firing between 10 to 12 shots.

A 43-year-old woman was killed, and an 11-year-old girl was among four others wounded. The girl was in stable condition and was expected to survive.

A pregnant 25-year-old woman who was shot was listed in critical condition, authorities said. A 32-year-old man who was shot multiple times underwent surgery and was in critical condition, authorities said. A 30-year-old man who was also shot was treated and is expected to be released from a hospital.

Sheriff's deputies received reports around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday about a dispute with a gun on a bus outside a store near Oroville Dam and Feather River boulevards. Oroville is about 65 miles north of Sacramento.

Mayor Chuck Reynolds warned in Facebook posts of an active shooter near an AMPM convenience store. The bus stopped behind the store after an altercation, authorities said. The shooting stemmed from a fight on the bus, officials said.

Officers found five people with gunshot wounds. One died at the scene, and the others were taken to hospitals, the Butte County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. Reynolds told CBS13 they were airlifted.

Coleman left before law enforcement arrived, but 911 callers said he was inside an Oroville Walmart on Cal Oak Road. Authorities contacted Coleman and said they found evidence that supported their belief the person was involved in the shooting.

Coleman was taken into custody and remains at the Butte County Jail.

Videos posted on Snapchat showed a naked man inside the Walmart store holding and talking into what appeared to be a cell phone. A second video posted on Instagram showed law enforcement taking the same man into custody near the checkout line.

"I think that this is a changing world where life is not as precious as it used to be," Reynolds told CBS13.

Reynolds described the suspect as "incoherent" at the Walmart store, and that additional victims were found. Despite reports of gunfire at the Walmart, Reynolds told the station there was a physical altercation.

Sheriff Kory Honea told KHSL that a number of people were on the bus at the time of the shooting. Investigators are interviewing them about the shooting.

Bus passengers told investigators that Coleman became agitated by a phone call during a stop in Chico. He began acting "paranoid" and talked to other passengers about Los Angeles, the sheriff said. Coleman talked about Los Angeles being a "dangerous place" and he showed other passengers a gun, Honea said. Authorities said Coleman had the gun unlawfully.

Bullet holes were found in windows and seats of the bus.

Mike Ramsey, the Butte County district attorney, called the shooting an "extraordinary event" in the small town of Oroville.

"A mass shooting, something that we have not had in this community, occurred on a bus," he said.

Coleman has a history of brushes with the law, prosecutors said. He has a juvenile record and was wanted in Alameda County on a charge of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

Further details, including the name of the victim who died, weren't immediately released.