Child among four dead in California office building shooting

Officials have identified the gunman in a shooting inside an office building in southern California that left four people dead, including a nine-year-old boy.

The child died while being embraced by another victim, police said.

The Wednesday attack in Orange, 30 miles south of Los Angeles, ended when officers shot and wounded the suspect.

Police said he had "a business and personal relationship" with his victims, but did not confirm a motive.

The suspect, Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez, 44, is in hospital and there is no current threat to the public, they said.

According to police, a fifth victim is also in hospital. None of the victims will be identified until next of kin have been informed.

Police were called to the scene by multiple reports of shots fired inside the courtyard of the two-storey building on Lincoln Avenue.

At a news conference Thursday, officials said they had to use bolt cutters to enter the premises because the doors were locked.

Orange Police spokeswoman Lt Jennifer Amat described the city as "very safe" and "usually quiet".

Wednesday's shooting is the deadliest in Orange since 1997, Ms Amat said.

California governor Gavin Newsom called the shooting "horrifying and heart-breaking".

"Our hearts are with the families impacted by this terrible tragedy tonight," he said on Twitter.

The attack is the third mass shooting in the US in just over two weeks. Eight people were killed inside spas in Atlanta, Georgia, on 16 March. Ten people were shot dead in a Boulder, Colorado, grocery store on 22 March.

President Joe Biden has vowed to take "common-sense steps" to crackdown on firearms, renewing his call to ban assault weapons and urging Congress to pass bills that would end loopholes in background checks.