Shooter in deadly California rail yard attack was employee, spoke of such violence decade ago

California police have identified the shooter in the San Jose rail yard attack Wednesday in which he killed eight coworkers and  had purportedly spoken of such deadly violence a decade ago. 

Police say the shooter was 57-year-old Samuel Cassidy, a Valley Transportation Authority employee who fatally shot the victims at about 6:30 a.m. local time.

"I never believed him, and it never happened until now," Cassidy's ex-wife, Cecilia Nelms, told the Associated Press. 

She also said Cassidy used to come home from work resentful and angry over what he perceived as unfair assignments.

“He could dwell on things,” Nelms also said. 

Russel Davis, a deputy with the Santa Clara County Office of the Sheriff, said in the hours immediately after the shooting that officers entered the facility  as part of an active-shooting response. Cassidy reportedly killed himself as the officers rushed into the facility.

County Sheriff Laurie Smith, who joined Davis at the Wednesday press conference, said investigators have yet to determine what sparked the attack and that she would not speculate on a motive.

She commended the "brave officers" for the response and said, "My heart goes out to the families" of the victims. 

The sheriff’s office is next door to the rail yard, which serves the county of more than 1 million people in the heart of the Silicon Valley.

The shooting took place in two buildings and killed employees who had been bus and light rail operators, mechanics, linemen and an assistant superintendent over the course of their careers. One had worked for the agency since 1999, the wire service also reports.

The Santa Clara County Office of the Medical Examiner-Coroner has identified the victims as Paul Delacruz Megia, 42; Taptejdeep Singh, 36; Adrian Balleza, 29; Jose Dejesus Hernandez, 35; Timothy Michael Romo, 49; Michael Joseph Rudometkin, 40; Abdolvahab Alaghmandan, 63, and Lars Kepler Lane, 63. Another man was wounded in the attack and is in critical condition at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, the Associated Press also reports.