Shareef Allman, the suspect in multiple murders at a Cupertino quarry, was shot dead Thursday after SWAT teams went door to door and schools were put on lock down in an extensive manhunt that began Wednesday morning.
Allman, who allegedly killed three people and injured seven after an early morning meeting at Lehigh Permanente in Cupertino Wednesday, was killed by police in Sunnyvale, according to KNTV.
The names of the murder victims were also released by Santa Clara authorities: Manuel Pinon, 48, of Newman, Calif., John Vallejos, 51, and Mark Munoz, 59, both of San Jose.
Allman, 47, a truck driver at the quarry began shooting after a morning safety meeting at 4:30 a.m.
Cupertino Shootings: Pictures from the Scene
Police have also connected Allman to a second shooting in Cupertino hours later, about five miles away from the quarry. Investigators say Allman tried to carjack a Hewlett-Packard employee in a parking lot near Homestead Road and Tantau Avenue, and shot her in the leg before fleeing, without the car.
The shootings rattled those close to Allman.
To his friends, Allman was the big man with a big smile, a devoted single father of two who once worked tirelessly to raise money for Hurricane Katrina victims, and who penned a novel about the evils of domestic violence.
“He was always helping people,” said Walter Wilson, a community activist who has known Allman all his life. He said he last saw Allman three weeks ago at downtown music festival, where he seemed happy and jovial. “He spent his life in the service of other people. This is totally out of character for him.
Allman would attend every one of his daughter’s basketball games, or any event she was in.
“You talk about Mr. Mom,” said Sandra Dailey, 54, who described herself as a close friend. “He never missed an event. He was an incredible father.”
In addition to working at the quarry, Allman has run a nonprofit group for youths and produced and hosted a public access television show for CreaTV in San Jose.
He also wrote a novel titled “Saving Grace,” about the evils of domestic violence.
On the back cover of the book, Allman wrote a poem and included a statement that the book is not a reflection of himself, but of “man’s inhumanity.”
“He’s always had a smile on his face,” said Paulette Conner, 57, a neighbor at Allman’s San Jose apartment complex who said she’s known him for five years. “I’ve never known him to have any violent tendencies. Never. Ever.”
With AP
