Accused Orange County Shooter Had Previous Brushes With the Law

Police investigate the scene of a shooting in Orange, Calif., on April 1, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

The chief suspect in a mass shooting that killed four people, including one child, and injured one, has been accused of violent crimes in the past, The Epoch Times has learned.

Records from the Orange County Superior Court show that Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez, 44, was charged with child abuse and endangerment, assault with a deadly weapon that was not a gun, dissuading a witness, and assault and battery charges on March 31, 2015.

Those charges came exactly six years prior to the most recent crimes he’s accused of.

Gonzalez reportedly pleaded not guilty to all four charges, and three of the charges were dismissed on November 30, 2015. The battery charge was dismissed in 2017 after he completed a probationary sentence.

Gonzales was a truck driver, and on Sept. 18, 2014, was charged with a driving-related infraction.

A public records search shows that Gonzalez had been a truck driver for a number of years, for companies Mina Trucking, Red Cone Trucking, and USA Dump Trucking, all located in Anaheim.

This undated photo provided by the Orange Police Department shows Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez, a 44-year-old Fullerton, Calif., man who is the suspect in a shooting that occurred inside a counseling business in Orange, Calif., on March 31, 2021. (Courtesy of the Orange Police Department)

About 5:30 p.m. March 31, in Orange, California, a man used bicycle-type locks to secure the gates leading to an office building at 202 W. Lincoln Avenue and opened fire inside a Unified Homes office. He was later shot by police and was transported to the hospital in critical but stable condition.

The victims include 28-year-old Jenevieve Raygoza, her 50-year-old father, Luis Tovar, and 9-year-old Matthew Farias. Leticia Solís was also killed.

Jenevieve’s mother, Blanca Tamayo, survived the shooting. As of April 4, she remained hospitalized in critical condition.

Gonzales has been charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder. He’s also facing a special-circumstance allegation of multiple murders, which makes him eligible for the death penalty if convicted.

Police said that Gonzalez’s last known address was in Fullerton and that he knew all of his victims, including the 9-year-old boy.

Gonzalez was reportedly shot by police and is currently in the UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange in “critical yet stable condition.” His arraignment was postponed until April 5.

“He is not conscious,” said Gonzalez’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Ken Morrison. “We have been unable to communicate with him.”

Investigators believe that Gonzalez had been living out of a motel in Anaheim and used a rental car to drive to the business center where the mass shooting occurred.

According to court records, Gonzalez filed for divorce from his wife on Jan. 25, 2005. The divorce was finalized on Dec. 11, 2006.

They had a child together.