Nine days after the mass murder of nine VTA workers in San Jose, a federal judge in San Diego overturned California’s assault weapons ban. California officials vowed to win on appeal, but gun advocates are emboldened by a shifting Supreme Court.

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo hopes the City Council will this year approve a first-in-the-nation requirement that gun owners insure their weapons or pay fees to keep them.

“Based on recent developments in the investigation we can say that the suspect has been a highly disgruntled VTA employee for many years, which may have contributed to why he targeted VTA employees.” -- Sgt. Russell Davis of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office.

Multiple San Jose Police units and members of the media converged on a South San Jose home associated with Samuel Cassidy this morning, and the block was cordoned off in the aftermath of Wednesday’s VTA rail yard shooting, which law enforcement officials confirmed resulted in multiple fatalities and the death of the shooter. One Facebook post identified Cassidy as the deceased shooter, but no official confirmation is available at this time, and an active investigation is underway. According to Transparent California, Cassidy worked as a Substation Maintainer for Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) making $182,901.70, including benefits, as of 2015.