SANTA MONICA, Calif. — A man with a semi-automatic rifle killed at least four people and wounded several others Friday as he carried out a deadly rampage across several blocks of a normally idyllic beachfront city. Police shot him dead in the Santa Monica College Library.

The violence began when the gunman, dressed in all black and wearing what appeared to be a ballistic jacket, opened fire on a house where two bodies were found, Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks said.

Two officials said Friday night that the killings began as a domestic violence incident and that the victims in the home were the gunman’s father and brother. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the case.

As the house burst into flames, the man wounded a woman in a car before moving toward campus, spraying bullets as he went. Police said he opened fire on a city bus, a police car and other cars, as well as bystanders and pedestrians.

The driver of an SUV leaving a campus parking lot was killed and two passengers were wounded as the car crashed through a block wall.

From there, the gunman entered the campus, fatally wounding a woman as he made his way toward the college’s library, where students were studying for final exams.

“We saw a woman get shot in the head,” said administrative assistant Trena Johnson, who looked out the window of the dean’s office, where she works, when she heard gunfire. “I haven’t been able to stop shaking,” she said.

The gunman continued to shoot at people in the library, Seabrooks said, but apparently didn’t hit anybody.

“The officers came in and directly engaged the suspect, and he was shot and killed on the scene,” she said.

After the gunman was killed, police wearing helmets and armed with shotguns and rifles searched the campus for a possible second shooter. A man dressed entirely in black, the words “Life is a Gamble” on the back of his sweatshirt, was seen being led away in handcuffs.

Sgt. Richard Lewis, a police spokesman, said Friday night the man was questioned and released and is not a suspect.

The identities of those who were killed were not immediately released. The death toll had been reported higher earlier Friday. Wounded victims were taken to a nearby hospital.