California Freeway Shooter ID'd as Student, 20

Police have identified the suspect in this morning's shooting spree in California as a 20-year-old Ali Syed, described as an unemployed, part-time student, reports AP. The spree reportedly began when Syed shot and killed a woman in her 20s inside her home, though police haven't said yet whether there was any relationship between the pair. (A neighbor said a man and three children were later escorted from the house.) Syed then killed two commuters in separate carjackings before killing himself as police closed in on him at an intersection, reports the Los Angeles Times. Two other people were wounded, and drivers on local freeways reported being shot at during the spree.

One of the carjacking deaths is especially chilling. Police say Syed apparently ran out of gas in the first car he stole, then commandeered a BMW stopped at a red light. He forced the driver out of the car, made him walk to the curb, and shot him. "He was basically executed," says Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna. "There were at least six witnesses." (More shooting stories.)