Good Samaritan’s act sparked shootings, San Bernardino police say

The suspect involved in a shooting that killed a 3-year-old girl and critically wounded a pregnant woman and another 3-year-old was apparently angry that a Good Samaritan in their home had tried to stop him from assaulting a woman nearby, according to San Bernardino Police Chief Keith Kilmer.

 Both children were shot in the head. The woman, who was five months pregnant, was shot in the neck and the jaw. Police said her unborn child was not harmed. The surviving 3-year-old is in critical condition at Loma Linda University Medical Center.

Photos: San Bernadino shooting

Kilmer called the shooting a "tragic, senseless, despicable homicide," saying it came after nearly two months without a murder in the city.

Mayor Patrick Morris called on residents to assist with the investigation. Police believe there are witnesses to the shooting, which occurred Monday night in the 1300 block of D Street, six blocks from San Bernardino Police Department headquarters.

"Today we'll come together as a city and find justice for this family," Morris said.

The shooter was on foot and opened fire on the front patio of the home, which was crowded with children and adults. He fled down the street.

The suspect has been identified as a black man in his early 20s, 6 feet tall and weighing 160 to 170 pounds with a thin build.

Police spokeswoman Lt. Gwendolyn Waters said that officers have responded to several incidents at the home over the years. But she said that the shooting does not appear to be related.

Waters said someone at the home saw the suspect beating a woman nearby and separated them.

"Somebody from that residence intervened and did a good thing," Waters said.

Sophia Cardona, the great-grandmother of the 3-year-old girl killed, said she was in the kitchen making tacos when she heard the gunfire.

"We lost one of our babies," Cardona said Tuesday of her great-granddaughter Nylah Franco-Torrez. "She was a sweet little girl."

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-- Phil Willon in San Bernardino

Photo: Sophia Cardona and her granddaughter Destiny Hull,14, cry in the doorway of their house where Cardona's 3-year-old great-granddaughter was killed. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times