COVINA – It was a Christmas Eve massacre, a mass murder so chilling that it was unimaginable even to a 30-year veteran of the Covina Police Department.

Investigators found nine bodies in the charred ruins of a home on a quiet suburban street Thursday and Friday. Hours earlier, at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, a gunman dressed as Santa Claus opened fire at a Christmas Eve party before burning down the house with a homemade flamethrower, officials said.

“I’ve been with the department for 30 years and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Covina police Lt. Pat Buchanan said.

Video: Covina police chief describes massacre

Audio: 911 calls from the scene

Download: Pardo divorce records

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“They were met with a scene that was just indescribable,” Covina police Chief Kim Raney said.

The owners of the home at 1129 Knollcrest Drive, and their daughter, were believed to be among the victims, police said. The daughter was the former wife of the killer.

Police discovered the body of the gunman, Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, 45, of Montrose, at his brother’s home in the 15800 block of Joseph Court in Sylmar early Thursday. Pardo died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Assistant

Chief Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office.

PHOTO GALLERY Covina Christmas massacre

Pardo, a longtime usher at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Montrose, was married for about one year. A bitter divorce settlement was finalized last week, Raney said. Police said they had unconfirmed reports that Pardo worked as an engineer in the aerospace industry.

According to public records, the Knollcrest Drive home is owned by Joseph Ortega. Pardo came to the home dressed in a Santa Claus suit and carrying a package that was wrapped as a Christmas present, Raney said.

An 8-year-old girl answered the door and was immediately shot in the face, officials said. Pardo then walked into the residence and opened fire on the 25 guests with a semi-automatic handgun, officials said.

“It is very unclear what ensued after that as people were fleeing the residence any way they could,” Buchanan said. “Some of them ran through doors, broke windows with furniture and some jumped from second-story windows.”

PHOTO GALLERY Covina Christmas massacre aftermath

People who escaped immediately sought refuge at neighbors’ homes, where they called for help. Witnesses later told police they recognized Pardo as the shooter.

Inside of Pardo’s package was a pressurized homemade device that sprayed a flammable liquid throughout the first level of the home, Raney said. Police said they believe Pardo set the house on fire before fleeing.

“We still don’t exactly know what the device is,” Buchanan said. “It’s unusual enough to where we believe it is something that was used to propel an accelerant.”

“Officers parked at a cross street and worked their way down the street and saw the house engulfed in flames,” Buchanan said.

Los Angeles County firefighters battled the blaze at the two-story home, which is located in the middle of a cul-de-sac in what police described as an upper-middle-class neighborhood. Some neighbors said the flames shot as high as 50 to 70 feet and said they could hear explosions inside the home.

Investigators initially discovered three bodies inside the rubble. Five more bodies were recovered by the coroner Thursday afternoon, according to McCraken.

A ninth body was discovered Friday morning, officials said.

PHOTO GALLERY Covina Christmas massacre evidence

Cadaver dogs were brought in to help in the search.

It was not clear Friday whether the victim’s died from the fire or gunshots.

“The nature of injuries have not been determined; their bodies are severely burned and charred,” Winter said. “We also do not have identities; we probably will have to use dental and medical X-rays.”

Most of the bodies were found in the living room area but other areas of the home still need to be searched, Winter said.

Investigators are expected to return to the scene this morning.

The 8-year-old girl who was shot when she answered the door suffered non-life-threatening injuries and is expected to recover, authorities said. A 16-year-old girl was treated for a gunshot wound in the back. A woman broke her leg after jumping out of the second-story window, officials said.

“Mr. Pardo was armed with four handguns,” Raney said, and added that all four were emptied of ammunition when found.

“He did have some intended targets,” Raney said, “those being family members and immediate family of his ex-wife.”

Neighbors and Raney said the Ortega family apparently had a yearly tradition where a neighbor dresses up as Santa and comes to the house and joins in the festivities. The neighbor who had dressed as Santa had moved away, however.

“We don’t know at this point whether he (Pardo) was aware … there was a Santa Claus in years past,” Buchanan said. “We are assuming that he did.”

Pardo had no past criminal record and there had been no previous police activity at the Knollcrest Drive house, Buchanan said.

A woman who claimed to be an ex-girlfriend of Pardo’s said he attended Cal State Northridge and was a straight-A student.

Carol Sanchez, of Glendora, said she was shocked by the mass killing.

“He was never like this,” Sanchez said.

She said Pardo had been employed as a computer engineer at JPL, but was recently laid off.

Divorce records indicate Pardo had been required to pay his ex-wife $10,000 on Dec. 19.

Officials said $17,000 and a plane ticket to Canada were found with Pardo’s body.

Law enforcement officials said Pardo intended to flee to Canada but was severely burned before he killed himself.

He suffered third-degree burns on both arms when the device he was using to torch the house exploded, police said.

Authorities say Pardo’s Santa suit actually melted onto his body before he fled.

Residents of about a half-dozen homes adjacent to the crime scene were evacuated while police continued the investigation.

A group of neighbors gathered Thursday to discuss the events of the night before. They said SWAT officers ordered them to stay in their homes Wednesday night as they canvassed the neighborhood, unsure if the gunman was still in the area.

“The fact that he showed up at the party with a Santa outfit puts a sick twist on it,” said neighbor Dave Ritchie. “It’s such a tragedy.”

– Staff Writer Ben Baeder and the Associated Press contributed to this story