Fifth victim dies after California shooting rampage

USPA News - A young woman who was seriously injured this week during a nearly 15-minute shooting spree in Southern California died of her injuries on Sunday, officials said, raising the death toll to five. The suspected gunman was also killed.

Marcela Franco, 26, was critically injured on Friday when 23-year-old John Zawahri went on a shooting spree in the coastal city of Santa Monica, targeting nearly a dozen people during an attack that lasted approximately 13 minutes as he cut a violent path nearly a mile (1.6 kilometer) long that ended at Santa Monica College (SMC). Chui Tsang, the president of Santa Monica College, said Marcela Franco died of her injuries on Sunday morning while surrounded by her family at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. "Marcela had registered to attend classes this summer at SMC and was with her father Carlos when Friday`s tragedy struck," he said. The woman`s father, 68-year-old Carlos Navarro Franco, died Friday at the scene of the shooting. The father and daughter had gone to Santa Monica College to buy books for the woman`s summer classes, but they came under fire while in an SUV, causing the vehicle to crash into a wall. "Our deepest sympathies go to the Franco family. At the appropriate time, the College will convene a campus-wide memorial," Chui said. "Yesterday, the Santa Monica College Foundation established a memorial fund honoring Carlos Franco and his family. Donations can be made to The Carlos Franco Family Memorial Fund." The death of Marcela Franco raises the number of people killed by the gunman to five, apparently over an undisclosed family dispute although most of the victims are believed to have been unknown to him. Zawahri was killed at a library on the campus of Santa Monica College during an exchange of fire with police officers.