Sacramento, July 4 (RHC)-- In the U.S. state of California, a man with a rifle killed two people outside a store and a stray bullet wounded a customer, authorities say. John Noonkester, 32, was arrested in the gated community of Lake California, 130 miles (210 km) north of Sacramento, the Tehama County sheriff’s department said.

A woman called police and said she'd been assaulted by her ex-husband before the call disconnected. Moments later, a shooting was reported at the Northern California community. Law enforcement officers found a 29-year-old woman and a 53-year-old man dead outside the store. Johnson says a bullet hit a man inside, who was wounded and treated at a hospital. Witnesses told a local newspaper the gunman apparently argued with his ex-wife and her father before killing them.

Weak gun laws that allow for some criminals to possess firearms legally are contributing to the high rate of gun violence in the U.S., according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

A non-profit website called Gun Violence Archive has recorded over 24,600 gun incidents in the country since the beginning of 2015. According to the website, nearly 6,300 people in the United States have lost their lives to firearms so far this year.