1 Killed, 2 Hurt in Shooting at West Covina Trade School

A gunman shot three people in a West Covina vocational school Thursday, killing one and critically wounding another before escaping in a car, police said.

Carolyn Vasquez, 36, a counselor at Northwest College, died of her wounds at Queen of the Valley Hospital in West Covina.

Robin Stanford, 27, of Rancho Cucamonga, also a counselor, was in critical condition at the hospital after undergoing surgery, West Covina police said.

A 17-year-old male tutor was seriously wounded in the leg, investigators said. His identity was not available.

Shortly after 5 p.m., the gunman walked into the school building at 2029 W. Garvey Ave. and asked for a female student by name, said Police Lt. Clint Collins. When told she was not there, he began firing with a handgun for no apparent reason, fatally wounding Vasquez, and shooting Stanford in the stomach, Collins said.

“He just opened fire on the people in front of him,” Collins said.

As he left the building, the gunman turned and shot the tutor outside, the lieutenant said.

Detectives said the man fired at least five shots.

“We don’t have a speculative motive yet,” Collins said.

However, investigators said they believe the assailant is the boyfriend of the woman student he asked for.

Collins said detectives planned to go the suspected gunman’s house Thursday night.

After the shooting, the gunman ran to a car driven by another man, detectives said. They described the vehicle as a 1980 or 1981 “shiny, beige Oldsmobile with wire wheels.”

Marsha First, administrator at the school, which offers training in health-related fields, described Vasquez, who lived in West Covina, as “a lovely, lovely person.”