警方稱，血案發生在洛杉磯地區的考文納市，45歲的帕多手持槍械闖進一個聖誕派對，向在場的人射擊，然後縱火，並逃離現場。聖誕派對約有25人，事後有3人失蹤。

　　考文納市警官布坎南說，第二天淩晨，警方在帕多兄弟家中發現了他的屍體，初步判斷他是死於自殺。

　　警方表示，槍手周三(平安夜)晚上11時半左右以一身聖誕老人打扮，來到肇事房屋前，隨後便向屋內正在開派對的30人開槍。警方接報到場，發現房屋起火，賓客爭相逃生。火警熄滅後，警方在屋內發現了多具屍體。

　　然而警方暫未肯定起火原因，但指帕度據稱有婚姻問題，而肇事房屋正屬其妻子的一名親屬。

　　據現場消防隊員說，這宗血案造成的死亡人數還會上升，因為他們在被焚毀的房屋處發現了幾具被燒毀的屍體。

　Bruce Jeffery Pardo was sought for a Christmas party shooting before taking his own life, police said.

　　LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The prime suspect in a Christmas Eve shooting and fire that left at least three people dead in a Los Angeles suburb has committed suicide, police said Thursday.

　　Authorities had been searching for Bruce Jeffery Pardo, 45, after a man dressed as Santa Claus showed up and started shooting at a party at a house in Covina, California.

　　Pardo's body was discovered at a relative's home in the nearby suburb of Sylmar, and authorities have made a positive identification, said Lt. Pat Buchanan of the Covina Police Department. Buchanan said Pardo was the prime suspect in the Christmas Eve shooting.

　　Police believe the residence where the shootings occurred belongs to another of Pardo's relatives, Buchanan said. The house was burning when police arrived.

　　Three people were found dead inside. Police have not said how they died or released their identities.

　　An 8-year-old girl and a woman in her 20s were hospitalized with gunshot wounds that authorities do not consider life-threatening.

　　Crews took a third person to a hospital with an injury that wasn't life-threatening and wasn't caused by gunfire, said police in Covina, a city about 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

　　The shooting started around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday.

　　"There was some source of ignition that caused the fire," Buchanan said. "We've not been able to identify it yet."

　　Authorities said Pardo's name was given to them by people who were at the party. Pardo was "going through some type of marital problems," Buchanan said.

　　According to police, the gunman changed out of the Santa suit and into regular clothes before leaving