Orange County coroner's officials remove a body from the scene in Orange, Calif., Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013. Police say a chaotic 25-minute shooting spree through Orange County left a trail of dead and injured victims before the shooter killed himself. Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino say there are at least six crime scenes with three people, including the suspected gunman, dead and several others wounded. Tustin police Supervisor Dave Kanoti said the shootings started with an apparent carjacking just after 5 a.m. Tuesday in an unincorporated Ladera Ranch area of Orange County. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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TUSTIN, California (AP) — A shooting spree early Tuesday left three people dead and two others injured in Orange County, and the search for the gunman ended when he shot himself to death in a stolen car as police closed in, authorities said.
There were multiple crime scenes in the county south of Los Angeles and many more victims who were shot at but unhurt, said Tustin Lt. Paul Garaven.
The shootings began at 4:45 a.m. local time when deputies responding to a call found a female shot multiple times in a house in Ladera Ranch, said Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino.
From 5:30 a.m. to 5:55 a.m., Tustin police received police reports of shootings in several locations, Tustin police Supervisor Dave Kanoti.
After two carjackings, one victim was hospitalized and another victim died, Garaven said.
After a third call to police, an officer arrived and found two more victims — one dead and the other injured.
Officers located the suspect and followed him into the city of Orange, Garaven said. "When they tried to stop, he killed himself in the car," Garaven said.
The suspect is a male, although Garaven couldn't confirm his age. He didn't have the sexes of all the victims.
The lieutenant said the gunman succeeded in stealing a vehicle at each carjacking.
A spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol said they didn't have any active crime scenes on the freeway but the southbound 55 McFadden Avenue off-ramp would be closed until further notice.
The motive for the shootings is still unclear and it's also unclear if the victims knew each other or the shooter, Amormino said.
Authorities were processing six crime scenes across the county.
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Associated Press Writer Sue Manning in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
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