The Christmas Eve massacre carried out by a gunman dressed as Santa Claus left sixteen children orphaned. The attacker slaughtered his ex-wife and her family, according to reports. Unfortunately, by now, Los Angeles Coroners officers have yet to officially identify the nine people killed by Bruce Pardo, aged 45, who opened fire at the home of his former in-laws on Wednesday. Furthermore, he set fire to the house and took his own life afterwards.
 
However, it seems like the nine victims are Pardo's ex-wife Sylvia Ortega, her parents, her two brothers and their partners, her sister and her teenage nephew. Their bodies have been burned beyond recognition and it might take several days for formal identification as officials will check x-ray and dental records.
 
As good news, Sylvia Ortega's three children were at the party but survived, while three people were injured in the assault but are expected to survive. No additional victims are expected to be discovered in the charred wreckage of Ortega's home, which is to be bulldozed. It seems that Pardo's recent divorce from Ortega has not been especially acrimonious, so it shouldn't be a possible trigger for the attack.
 
Police also revealed on Friday that Pardo has planned to flee to Canada following his attack, but he killed himself after being seriously injured after setting fire to his former-in-laws' home with a home-made flamethrower that melted his Santa Claus costume to parts of his body. He shot himself, and $17,000 was found taped to his body along with a plane ticket to Canada departing Thursday.
 
Furthermore, Pardo also booby-trapped his car, which burst into flames right as bomb disposal experts moved in. Friends of Pardo state that there has been no hint of the mayhem that was to follow, and that hours before the killings the attacker looked just fine. It remains to be seen if the investigators will find out his reasons.