A man dressed as Santa Claus opened fire on a Christmas party in Covina, killing three people and wounding two others, before setting the house on fire and fleeing the scene.
Bruce Jeffery Pardo, a 6-foot-3-inch, 250-pound man known to frequent La Crescenta and La Verne, was being sought in connection with the bloodshed, said Covina police Lt. Pat Buchanan. He is white, 45, and has brown hair and blue eyes.
Pardo reportedly is embroiled in a divorce.
One of the two wounded at the house in the 1100 block of East Knollcrest Drive at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday was an 8-year-old girl, Buchanan said. The other was a woman in her 20s, he said.
Both gunshot victims taken to hospitals should survive, he said. A third injured person also was taken to a hospital.
Reports from the scene indicated the man used Molotov cocktails to set the house on fire.
Los Angeles County fire Capt. Mike Brown said arriving firefighters were held at bay as the house burned and police tried to make sure it was safe.
About 80 firefighters battled the fire, which destroyed the house. Some popping sounds heard may have been ammunition inside the house or car tires popping outside.
The house was "completely gutted," and the roof collapsed, Brown said. Firefighters were still cleaning up the smoldering fire at 3:30 a.m.
