California Railway Yard Mass Shootout- Indian official saved seven lives while taking nine bullets on him

Ujjawala Nayudu

New Delhi, June 17

Doing his regular shift in wee hours at the California VTA railway yard, Indian origin official, Taptejdeep Singh did not know what was coming for him that unfortunate morning. While he saved seven persons during a sudden shootout, he died with nine bullet wounds, one right at the center of his head. 

36-year-old Taptejdeep Singh worked as a VTA light rail operator at San Jose in California. 

Speaking exclusively to BW Policeworld from California, his sister Kuljinder Kaur said, “My brother Taptej was working in the early morning shift at 3:30am and at around 6am, the employees heard that there was a shooter on the rampage. The shooter who also worked at the railway yard chose the time of 6am when shifts change not only for railways but also for police. He had fixed targets from his workplace to kill; he killed seven from his workplace while he let his union president and another woman colleague go”. 

As per the persons who saw him from the railway yard buildings, the shooter was seen with a duffle bag on his shoulder walked into the building, took out a gun and shot at people. 

The police later identified as Samuel Cassidy (57), an overhead line worker at the same railway yard. 

Kuljinder is herself a railways employee and works at one of these railway offices from last 15 years. There are around 114 operators working in both the buildings, one dedicated to railway operations and overheads department, connected to the railway yard. 

Elaborating more on the incident, she said, “When Taptej learnt there was a shooter on the third floor of the building, he called the colleagues on first floor to alert them. He also rushed workers away at a safe spot to save their lives. The shooter however reached that floor too. Taptej and he got face to face when he pulled the trigger with nine bullets hitting him. The saddest part is the police had just reached the spot at 6:41am while he was shot at 6:39am. He fought till the end”. 

Sheriff of the county police and city police both responded to the shootout and rushed there however the shooter had killed nine persons by then. When the police reached the building, he shot himself. Taptej was the seventh victim of the shootout, she added. 

The County police are investigating the incident. It was learnt that the shooter Samuel was living alone after he separated from his wife. His wife told police that he was disgruntled and had often expressed rage towards his colleagues and mentioned to kill them. 

It is to be noted that before entering the railway yard, Samuel had torched his own house on fire. Kuljinder said, “The police told us that he had set up timer based explosive which blasted few minutes before he reached the yard to divert police attention while he went on a rampage here”. 

US President Joe Biden called the attack a "horrific tragedy" and ordered flags to be flown at half-mast as he again urged Congress to take action on gun control.

Taptej is survived by his wife and two very young kids who still do not know that their father is no more. 

Kuljinder who got emotional while talking said, “His three-year-old son is asking for his father a lot. Few days ago, the officials brought his parked car at the railway yard to his home when his son thought he has finally come home. His one-year-old daughter keeps picking up the phone and says, “Papa, aa jao” (Papa, come back). 

Taptejdeep, originally from Gagrewal village, Amritsar moved to the USA in 2005 with his father. He however had told his father that after three years, he wished to go back to India and live in Punjab to start his own business. 

He was traditional and valued his religion and culture so much that he had told his parents that his children are learning English but not Punjabi and that was bothering him, his family added. 

His family remembers him as a warrior who fought till the last breath of his life to save several innocent lives!

Other VTA Victims-

Paul Delacruz Megia, 42

Adrian Balleza, 29

Jose Dejesus Hernandez III, 35

Timothy Michael Romo, 49

Michael Joseph Rudometkin, 40

Abdolvahab Alaghmandan, 63

Lars Kepler Lane, 63

Alex Ward Fritch, 49