Police, Orange County | featured news

At least three people have died in a series of related shootings near Los Angeles, California, police have said. On Tuesday morning, officers responded to reports of shots fired in southern Orange County. The gunman suspected of that shooting then went to Tustin, where he is believed to have been involved in three car-jackings, killing at least two of the drivers, police added.

Three transients have been stabbed to death since last month. Some are banding together for protection, and police and missions are helping. Cary Singletary is 6-foot-2, an ex-boxer who once worked nightclub security, alternating coffee and water to stay alert through the small hours. Now, encamped on the streets of downtown Santa Ana, he's the unofficial sentry for what he calls "my people," a group of homeless whose wary existence is now shadowed by a new peril: a serial killer.

A southern California man allegedly hit his crying 7-year-old son and then threw him off on a tour boat in busy Newport Harbor, Orange County authorities said Tuesday.

A dispute over an "inappropriate relationship" may be the motive in the case of a Garden Grove woman charged with cutting off her husband's penis, a law enforcement source said.

A former Orange County police officer surrendered to authorities Tuesday after he was charged with defrauding clients while working as a private investigator and engaging in a conspiracy to commit sexual assault of an animal by posting ads on Craigslist to have women engage in bestiality with his dog, authorities said.

A couple and their toddler son have been found shot to death in their Orange County apartment in an apparent murder-suicide, police said today.

The Huffington Post has confirmed reports that "Octo-Mom" Nadya Suleman was visited today by Orange County child services employees and two police detectives.