Indian-origin Sikh among 9 killed in rail yard shooting in California

Los Angeles: A 36-year-old Indian-origin Sikh man was among eight people killed in the horrific rail yard shooting in San Jose in the US state of California, according to media reports on Thursday.

Taptejdeep Singh was the first victim to be publicly identified by his family, The Mercury News reported.

Singh, born in India and raised in Union City, California, has left behind his wife, three-year-old son, one-year-old daughter, and a grieving Sikh community in the Sanfrancisco Bay Area, which described him as a "helpful and caring" man.

Co-workers at the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) hailed Singh as a hero, saying he left the safety of an office room, where some colleagues were hiding, to help others escape the line of fire.

Samuel Cassidy, 57, a maintenance worker of the VTA, San Jose, on Wednesday gunned down eight of his co-workers and critically injured another in a one of the deadliest shootings in California state this year. As police arrived at the scene, the killer died of a self-inflicted gunshot.

The gunman who opened fire on coworkers bypassed certain people and so appeared to select those he shot, a witness said.