US gunman kills three white men 'in race attack'

A gunman killed three white men in downtown Fresno, California, on Tuesday, and fired at another before he was taken into custody while shouting "Allahu Akhbar," police said.

The suspect, 39-year-old, Kori Ali Muhammad shot 16 rounds from a large-calibre handgun in 90 seconds in the shooting spree, police chief Jerry Dyer said, adding that Muhammad was also wanted in connection with the fatal shooting last week of an unarmed security guard at a Motel 6 in Fresno.

"Immediately upon the individual seeing the officer he literally dove onto the ground and was taken into custody and as he was taken into custody he yelled out 'Allahu Akhbar,'" Dyer said. The term means "God is great" in Arabic.

Dyer said that police had arrested him but were treating the incident as a hate crime, not terrorism, although he said it was too early to rule out the option.

“The attack has nothing to do with terrorism in spite of the statements that he [Kori Ali Muhammad] made". He did clarify that the reason he had made that statement was that in the event that anything did happen to him that he was in fact pledging his allegiance to God for protection."

"He does not like white people," Dyer added, citing the suspect's statements after being arrested and his Facebook postings. The chief said Muhammad, who is African American, used the nickname Black Jesus.

All four victims were white men, and one of them was shot sitting in a car.

"He wanted to kill as many people as he could and that's what he set out to do," Dyer said. "This was a random act of violence. These were unprovoked attacks by an individual who was intent on carrying out homicides today."

The shooting began around 10:45 local time near the headquarters for Catholic Charities.

Witnesses said they saw a man carrying a large handgun, which he reloaded several times between shots.

The gunman then fired at a utility vehicle belonging to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, killing the passenger.

More than 30,000 people are killed by gun violence across the country each year.