California Biker Bar Shooting: What We Know About Suspected Retired Officer

Three people were killed and several others were wounded in a shooting at a California biker bar on Wednesday night by a man believed to have been a retired police officer. The gunman was also killed by deputies.

The shooting occurred shortly after 7 p.m. at Cook's Corner in rural Trabuco Canyon in Orange County as a crowd gathered for a show and spaghetti night, authorities said.

Deputies arrived on scene within two minutes of the first report of the incident and engaged in gunfire with the shooter, Orange County Undersheriff Jeff Hallock said at a news conference late on Wednesday night. He died at the scene and a weapon was recovered, Hallock said.

Three others died at the scene, while six more were taken to the hospital, five of them with gunshot wounds, the Orange County Sheriff's Department posted on X, formerly Twitter. No deputies were injured, the department said.

Two of the injured were in critical condition, Orange County Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy said.

Hallock did not provide details during the news conference about the gunman or what led up to the shooting, saying authorities were still gathering information from the scene and interviewing witnesses.

He said authorities were working to confirm whether the gunman was a retired law-enforcement officer.

Ventura police Commander Mike Brown told the Ventura County Star that the gunman was a retired police officer who had worked at the Ventura Police Department. He worked for the department for almost three decades, from July 1986 until February 2014, Brown said.

Brown also said that Orange County authorities had called the department to confirm the gunman had previously worked there.

The man had been targeting his estranged wife, who was among the dead at the bar, The New York Times reported, citing a law-enforcement official who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Hallock said it was too early to confirm whether the shooting was a domestic violence incident. "That's part of the ongoing investigation," he said.

He added: "These types of shootings are not commonplace here in Orange County. Fortunately, when these things do happen, I think we have some of the best and most well-trained professionals that respond in the sheriff's department [and] in the Orange County Fire Authority[...]it's an absolute tragic event and something that I know is probably weighing very heavy on the entire Trabuco Canyon community."

He said Cook's Corner, which describes itself as the oldest biker bar in Southern California, is a "staple" in the community.

"We've experienced major earthquakes, forest fires, floods, recessions and other disasters. We've gotten through all of them and came out stronger. Ride down and check us out," the bar says on its website.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom was monitoring the shooting "and coordinating with local officials as more details become available," his office wrote on X.

Newsweek has contacted the sheriff's department for comment via email.