What we know about the victims of the San Jose mass shooting
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A memorial in for the victims at San Jose city hall. Photo: Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
Local authorities have identified the nine victims of Wednesday's mass shooting at a transit station in San Jose, California.
The big picture: Many of the victims were longtime employees of the Valley Transportation Authority. "Their jobs included bus and light rail operators, mechanics, linemen and assistant superintendent," reports AP.
What we know: The victims, per the Santa Clara County Coroner's Office, include:
- Abdolvahab Alaghmandan, age 63
- Alaghmandan went by, "Abdi," and worked as a substation maintainer at the VTA for about 20 years, reports ABC News.
- Adrian Balleza, age 29
- Balleza started working as a trainee at the VTA in 2014 and eventually became a maintenance worker and light rail operator, per KCRA News.
- Alex Ward Fritch, age 49
- Fritch was a substation maintainer at the VTA and died from his injuries in the hospital hours after the shooting.
- "Alex was everything to this family," his wife, Tara, told KTVU. The couple had been married 20 years and have two children. They were supposed to renew their wedding vows in Hawaii in September.
- Jose Dejesus Hernandez III, age 35
- Hernandez started working at the VTA in 2012 as a transit mechanic but later became a substation maintainer. His ex-wife told NBC News that Hernandez was the "most loving, romantic and giving man."
- Lars Kepler Lane, age 63
- Lane started working for the VTA in 2001. He was a husband, father and grandfather and would have celebrated his 64th birthday later this week, per ABC News.
- Paul Delacruz Megia, age 42
- Megia also started at the VTA as a trainee in 2002, and eventually became an assistant superintendent.
- His wife described him as a "husband & father who was full of love, jokes, energy for life and always up for new adventures," per NBC News.
- Timothy Michael Romo, age 49
- Romo was an Air Force veteran who worked for the VTA for 22 years. Romo and his wife had been planning a trip to visit their son, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
- Michael Joseph Rudometkin, age 40
- Rudometkin started working at the VTA in 2013 and was a "lifelong friend" of San Jose City Councilman Raul Peralez, per AP.
- Rudometkin's cousin said he was a "proud union member" who "always stood up for everyone's rights," according to KCRA News.
- Taptejdeep Singh, age 36
- Singh was a married father of two toddlers who died while trying to warn his colleagues that there was a shooter at the facility.
- "Even in the last moments, he wasn't looking for his own safety, per se, he was trying to save people. That's who he was," his cousin, Harpartap Singh, told NBC.
The suspected shooter, Sam Cassidy, is believed to have taken his own life at the scene of the shooting. Authorities have not yet determined a motive.
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