Cook’s Corner shooting - latest: Victims are named as ex-cop suspect John Snowling’s divorce details emerge

The suspected gunman was identified on Thursday as retired police officer John Snowling.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office said that Snowling had been employed by the Ventura Police Department from 1984 until his retirement in 2014. According to an article published in 2012, Snowling led a patrol task force within the agency.

Local media reports said that the incident began as a domestic dispute between the shooter and his wife, Marie Snowling.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department said it was looking into reports that the suspect first shot his wife at the bar.

The suspected gunman in Wednesday night’s shooting at a biker’s bar in California has been identified as retired police officer John Snowling.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said Snowling, a former officer from the City of Ventura, died during a confrontation with law enforcement. Undersheriff Jeff Hallock said he couldn’t confirm whether Snowling was killed by deputies but said it was “safe to assume” so, local news station KTLA reports.

The violence broke out around 7pm at the Cook’s Corner bar. Four people, including the suspected gunman, were killed.

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The Orange County Sheriff’s Department has identified the fatal victims as John Leehey, 67, Tonya Clark, 49, and Glen Sprowl, 53.

“We stand in mourning alongside the family and friends of Tonya, John and Glen. We continue to extend our sincerest condolences to all who knew and loved them,” the department said in a statement on Friday.

“These three members of our community were tragically killed Wednesday in a shooting at Cook’s Corner in Trabuco Canyon. Please join us in wishing their loved ones comfort during this extremely difficult time.”

Ryan Guidus was enjoying a spontaneous night out Wednesday with his 7-month-old daughter and mother-in-law at Cook’s Corner, a favorite family spot in Southern California that he’s frequented since his own childhood, when gunshots rang out.

First, he thought it was fireworks. But when screaming began and more shots followed, the bar’s popular weekly spaghetti night turned into every parent’s worst nightmare as a retired police sergeant opened fire.

“I just reached into the stroller and ejected my daughter out of that thing, ripped her out of there as fast as I could,” Guidus told The Associated Press on Friday. “It was all a blur, it happened so fast.”

Clutching baby Olive to his chest, Guidus sprinted from the bar’s patio to the back of the property where other patrons were hiding among the hillside trees along an embankment. When more shots erupted, the 36-year-old father handed Olive to a man next to him and jumped 10 feet (3.05 meters) down before grabbing her back.

Mountain bikers, finishing up a ride in the area, then helped him navigate the brush, one lifting a tree branch for him and his mother-in-law to crawl under, as they escaped to a nearby parking lot. He borrowed another mountain biker’s cellphone — he’d dropped his own in the stroller — to call his wife and his parents.

Only then did the baby start crying. It was nearing bedtime, and she was hungry for a bottle.

“I can’t stop hugging and kissing her,” Guidus said. “I obviously pray to God that she doesn’t remember this. I assume she won’t.”

AP

Snowling’s estranged wife Marie Snowling was shot during the altercation.

Despite earlier reports that she had not survived the attack, her father William Mosby told The Orange County on Wednesday that Ms Snowling is recovering from her injuries at Providence Mission Hospital Mission Viejo.

“Her friend in the bar said she was shot in the lower jaw,” Mr Mosby told the outlet. “I’m extremely relieved, what I heard was the worst.”

Mr Mosby described Snowling as a “crazy husband” who couldn’t cope with Ms Snowling’s request for a divorce.

A law enforcement source familiar with the investigation who spoke with the Los Angeles Times under the condition of anonymity said that Snowling had three guns: two handguns and a shotgun used during his confrontation with police.

They were all purchased legally.

Authorities said John Snowling killed three people Wednesday, including his wife’s dining companion and a man who approached him as Snowling retrieved additional guns from his truck, and wounded six others.

Snowling was fatally shot by deputies within minutes of the rampage.

Snowling, 59, was a retired police sergeant with the Ventura Police Department in Southern California.

His wife, Marie Snowling, had filed for divorce in December 2022, citing irreconcilable differences. The proceedings were ongoing and the case was scheduled for a mandatory settlement conference in November.

It began just like any other Wednesday night at the popular biker bar.

Motorcycle riders and enthusiasts had gathered for drinks, food and fun with friends at Cook’s Corner, one of the most famous biker bars and restaurants in southern California.

But, this one night took a devastating turn when a gunman opened fire, leaving at least three people dead and many others injured.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department has identified the fatal victims as John Leehey, 67, Tonya Clark, 49, and Glen Sprowl, 53.

“We stand in mourning alongside the family and friends of Tonya, John and Glen. We continue to extend our sincerest condolences to all who knew and loved them,” the department said in a statement on Friday.

“These three members of our community were tragically killed Wednesday in a shooting at Cook’s Corner in Trabuco Canyon. Please join us in wishing their loved ones comfort during this extremely difficult time.”