In LA 'Santa' christmas eve massacre kills at least 6

A man plotting revenge against his ex-wife after a bitter divorce. Dressed as Santa, Bruce Jeffrey Pardo walked up to his ex-in-laws' Christmas Eve party and slaughtered at least six people before killing himself hours later.

An 8-year-old girl, jubilant to see Santa, ran to answered Pardo's knock at the door.
Pardo, carrying what appeared to be a large present, pulled out a handgun and shot her in the face,

Pardo, 45, with a gun in one hand and a wrapped present in the other, began shooting indiscriminately, police said at a news conference Thursday.

Three people were listed as missing after Bruce Pardo's rampage - his ex-wife and her parents - and it was feared their remains were among the ashes of the home, which Pardo set ablaze using a bizarre homemade device that sprayed flammable liquid.

Pardo, 45, had no criminal record and no history of violence, according to police, but he was angry following last week's settlement of his divorce after a marriage that lasted barely a year.

"It was not an amicable divorce," police Lt. Pat Buchanan said.
A 16-year-old girl was shot in the back, and a 20-year-old woman broke her ankle when she escaped by jumping from a second-story window. Those two, and the 8-year-old, remained hospitalized Christmas Day.

The gift-wrapped box Pardo was carrying actually contained a pressurized homemade device he used to spray a liquid that quickly sent the house up in flames, police said.

When the fire was extinguished early Thursday, officers found three charred bodies in the living room area.

"They were met with a scene that was just indescribable," police Chief Kim Raney said. Investigators found three more bodies amid the ashes later in the day.

None of the dead or missing have been identified.

Following the shootings, Pardo quickly got out of the Santa suit and drove off, witnesses told police. He went to his brother's home about 25 miles away in the Sylmar area of Los Angeles. No one was home, so Pardo let himself in, police said.

Police were called to the home early Thursday, and officers found Pardo dead of a single bullet to the head.

The Christmas Eve Massacre
Kansas City Star
In Covina, Calif., police say a man Bruce Jeffrey Pardo reportedly dressed up as Santa Claus and opened fire at a Christmas Eve party being attended by his
9th body taken from site of Christmas Eve massacre
The Associated Press The Christmas Eve Massacre
A Los Angeles County coroner's official says a ninth body has been recovered from a home where a gunman shot up a Christmas Eve party and set the ...
clipped from Google - 12/2008
Christmas Eve Massacre Statement from Paul Helmke
PR newswire (press release)The Christmas Eve Massacre
WASHINGTON , Dec. 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In response to a man dressed in a Santa suit opening fire at a home in Colvino, California , shooting an ...
The Associated Press The Christmas Eve Massacre
(AP) — The Los Angeles County Coroner's office says eight bodies have been found in the rubble of a home set ablaze after a Christmas Eve shooting massacre.
The Christmas Eve Massacre. In Covina, Calif., police say a man Bruce Jeffrey Pardo reportedly dressed up as Santa Claus and opened fire at a Christmas Eve party being attended by his ex-wife, who is still missing. (So are her parents, ...
http://blogs.kansascity.com/crime_scene/
GMANews.TV - 9th body taken from site of Christmas Eve massacre ...
2 hours ago
COVINA, California — A Los Angeles County coroner's official says a ninth body has been recovered from a home where a gunman shot up a Christmas Eve party and set the house ablaze.
http://www.gmanews.tv/
Christmas Eve Massacre Claims 8 - California Massacre Covina Bruce ...
3 hours ago
Police in Covina, CA say Bruce Pardo killed 8 people at his former in-laws before killing himself Christmas Eve Massacre Claims 8 california massacre covina bruce pardo.
http://www.wkrg.com/news/
In Covina, Calif., police say a man Bruce Jeffrey Pardo reportedly dressed up as Santa Claus and opened fire at a Christmas Eve party being attended by his ex-wife, who is still missing. (So are her parents, who owned the house.) The Christmas Eve Massacre Police found six bodies in the house, which was set on fire during the attack. Three other people were injured. Pardo was later found at his brother's house, dead of an apparent gunshot wound.The Christmas Eve Massacre
The L.A. Times has a very detailed account. Apparently, an 8-year-old girl answered the door -- and Pardo shot her in the face. (Though it sounds like she made it to the hospital.) Pardo, an aerospace engineer who recently lost his job, reportedly used some kind of homemade device to spray a material used to spread the fire.