Children witness woman shot to death in Anaheim Hills park

A daytime shooting in an Anaheim Hills park left a woman dead Thursday and forced police to shut down nearby schools as they searched for the gunman, who was taken into custody.

The shooting was reported shortly after 2:30 p.m. in the parking lot of Peralta Canyon Park, said Sgt. Daron Wyatt of the Anaheim Police Department.

Officers arrived and found a woman, believed to be in her 30s, with gunshot wounds. She was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, Wyatt said.

Her name was not released pending the notification of her family.

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The shooter fled the area, and officers fanned out to search for him.

Several people, including a handful of children in the park, saw the killing and gave police a description of the shooter and his vehicle, Wyatt said.

Crescent Elementary School and Canyon High School were briefly placed on lockdown while authorities looked for the gunman, the Orange Unified School District told KABC-TV Channel 7.

Police located the suspect shortly before 3 p.m. in the parking lot of the Anaheim Police Department’s satellite station in the 8200 block of East Santa Ana Canyon Road.

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The station, known as the East Station, is about three miles from the park and is part of a larger civic complex with a gymnasium and library.

The 49-year-old man was taken into custody, Wyatt said. His name was not released.

Police did not provide details on the nature of the relationship between the man and woman.

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