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for billing false hours. The divorce court suspended the support payments due to financial hardship. However, as part of the divorce settlement, Pardo was required to pay his ex-wife $ 10,000, and she was permitted to keep her wedding ring and family dog. Pardo complained to the court that Sylvia was
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Police speculate that the motive of Pardo's attack was related to marital problems. After the couple wed in
January 2006, their marriage quickly fell apart within the first year because Pardo refused to open a joint bank account with Sylvia; he also expected his wife to use her own finances to take
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Pardo had apparently planned a detailed escape. He had rented multiple vehicles and parked one near the house of his ex-wife's divorce attorney, full of supplies and maps of the
Southwest and Mexico. Police speculated the attorney might have also been a target. Pardo had also made plans to visit a
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After opening fire with the handguns, Pardo unwrapped the package containing the compressor and sprayed fuel around the interior of the home. Police believe the fire was intended to be ignited with a flare but when the fuel contacted an open flame in the house there was an explosion. Between the
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In June 2008, a divorce court ordered Pardo to pay $ 1,785 a month in spousal support. During the divorce proceedings, Pardo confided to a friend his wife was "taking him to the cleaners." In July, Pardo, who had no criminal record or history of violence, was fired from his job as an
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living with her parents, not paying rent, and had spent lavishly on a luxury car, gambling trips to Las Vegas, meals at expensive restaurants, massages, and golf lessons. Pardo and Sylvia finalized their divorce a week prior to the attack.
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Pardo's rental car, parked one block from his brother's house, contained remnants of his Santa suit, booby-trapped so that moving the suit would trigger a fire and set off 200 rounds of ammunition. At Pardo's house in
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converted to spray racing fuel. When he knocked on the door and his 8-year-old niece answered, Pardo pulled out the handguns and immediately shot, wounding her. He then fired indiscriminately at fleeing party-goers.
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care of her own three children. There is some speculation that the divorce may have also been caused by Pardo concealing a child from a previous relationship for which Pardo did not pay child or spousal support.
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gunfire and the flames, a total of nine family members were killed and three were injured. One of the survivors made it to a neighbor's house, where she called police and identified Pardo as the likely suspect.
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fuel tank gasoline. They also found what was described as a "virtual bomb-making factory" in his home.
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26:"Christmas eve massacre" redirects here. For the massacre in Myanmar, see
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19:"Sylvia Pardo" redirects here. For the Mexican painter, see
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Moore, Solomon; O'Connor, Anahad (December 27, 2008).
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Becerra, Hector; Abdollah, Tami (December 31, 2008).
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However, the explosion and fire had left Pardo with
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267:. He was also carrying cash strapped to his body.
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800:: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
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16:2008 mass murder in Los Angeles, California, US
683:"Santa gunman was in bitter divorce, lost job"
1388:Mass murder in the United States in the 2000s
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782:. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016
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326:. In 2004, he met Sylvia Pardo (née Ortega).
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1418:Car and truck bombings in the United States
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480:List of massacres in the United States
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46:considered for merging
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763:. December 27, 2008.
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183:Bruce Jeffrey Pardo
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662:December 5,
627:December 5,
567:December 5,
180:Perpetrator
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110:Attack type
35:‹ The
1382:Categories
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1220:Covina, CA
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1090:Goleta, CA
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516:References
428:X-Ray Spex
298:Motivation
203:Santa suit
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1167:Omaha, NE
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1063:(Mar. 12)
1057:(Feb. 24)
1055:Tyler, TX
1034:(Nov. 21)
1028:(Mar. 12)
1022:(Mar. 12)
1005:(Aug. 27)
993:(Jun. 14)
991:Ennis, MT
987:(Apr. 14)
964:(Jan. 16)
935:(Jan. 10)
918:(Dec. 28)
912:(Dec. 26)
894:(Apr. 28)
796:cite news
366:does not
237:SIG Sauer
154:Homemade
147:SIG Sauer
44:is being
1314:Part of
1281:(Nov. 5)
1269:(Aug. 4)
1263:(Apr. 4)
1257:(Apr. 3)
1198:(Feb. 7)
1192:(Feb. 2)
1175:(Dec. 9)
1169:(Dec. 5)
1157:(Oct. 7)
1122:(Oct. 2)
1110:(Jun. 1)
1104:(May 29)
1040:(Dec. 8)
999:(Jul. 8)
970:(Jul. 4)
947:(Mar. 5)
941:(Feb. 5)
900:(May 24)
888:(Mar. 1)
760:Fox News
734:LA Times
458:See also
288:shotguns
284:Montrose
265:Illinois
240:handguns
228:Killings
211:shooting
127:torching
63:Location
48:. ›
37:template
786:July 5,
387:removed
372:sources
172:Injured
137:Weapons
82: (
534:Medium
314:, and
292:octane
276:Sylmar
261:Moline
213:or by
207:Covina
164:Deaths
101:Target
69:, U.S.
1336:2020s
1332:2010s
1328:2000s
1324:1990s
418:Music
215:arson
142:Four
1230:2009
1183:2008
1130:2007
1083:2006
1048:2005
1013:2004
978:2003
955:2002
926:2001
879:2000
802:link
788:2022
741:2022
713:2023
664:2023
629:2023
569:2023
541:2020
439:Film
370:any
368:cite
189:The
74:Date
622:CNN
381:by
338:at
322:in
310:in
234:9mm
144:9mm
96:-8)
94:UTC
1384::
1334:,
1330:,
1326:,
1322:,
831:–
820:–
798:}}
794:{{
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121:,
117:,
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