Two dead, at least 4 injured in shooting at a Los Angeles-area high school; suspect in custody – The Washington Post, Google News

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – A 16 – year -old student pulled a gun from his backpack and opened fire on classmates at a high school north of Los Angeles on Thursday morning, striking five people before turning the gun on himself, law enforcement authorities said. Two students, a 16 -year-old girl and a 14 – year-old boy, died at a hospital.

The shooter, whose attack unfolded at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita in front of surveillance cameras, survived his self-inflicted gunshot wound and was in grave condition at a hospital, authorities said at a news conference shortly before noon local time. Police said he turned 16 on Thursday.

The shooting victims who survived include a 14 – year-old girl, a 15 – year-old girl and a 14 – year-old boy. The shooting took place in the quad, a popular outdoor gathering spot for students, a place with trees and picnic tables.

“We need to say ‘no more.’ This is a tragic event that happens too frequently, ”said Capt. Robert Lewis of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station. “When are we going to come together as a community… to say ‘no more’?”

Deputy Armando Viera of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office said the shooting was reported at 7: 38 am When authorities arrived two minutes later, they found six students with gunshot wounds and later learned the shooter was among them. They also recovered a. 45 – caliber semiautomatic pistol at the scene. There were no more rounds in it.

Four people were taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Valencia, including the male and female student who died. The two other students were being treated Thursday afternoon, officials said. One was in critical condition and the other was in good condition.

Providence Holy Cross Medical Center received two patients related to the shooting, both female students, according to a hospital spokeswoman. The spokeswoman said one girl was in fair condition and the other in good condition and that both were talking when they arrived. A seventh person was treated for injuries that were not critical, officials said.

Authorities would not say where the shooter was being treated.

The shooter was identified through witness statements and school security footage, law enforcement officials said. No additional victims were found at his home, and the sheriff’s department is working to obtain a search warrant.

“At this point we have no indication of any motivation or ideology,” said Paul Delacourt with the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.

The suspect’s mother and girlfriend were being interviewed by law enforcement.

Outside Saugus High, the scene was quiet except for the thwack of helicopters overhead and the rumbling of idled firetrucks and police cars. The area around campus had been blocked off with police tape. On a quiet street nestled beneath a wooded hill three miles away, police barricaded the street near the house where they say the suspect lives, roping off one home with police tape. In the middle of the day, only a dog’s ferocious bark could be heard punctuating the stillness.

Ryan Payad, a 14 – year-old freshman, was across the street from the campus when he heard shots – and then heard screams pierce the air. He turned and ran, joining students fleeing the campus. He ran into his friend Adolfo Ramirez, and the two spent time at Adolfo’s house, reeling from what had transpired that morning.

“I’m just shocked right now,” Ryan said in an

Adolfo, also a 14 – year-old freshman, was blocks away from the school when the shooting happened. He was struggling to come to grips with how a shooting could take place at his school, in the heart of a suburb of Los Angeles.

“I never expected this to happen in the middle of a neighborhood like Santa Clarita, ”Adolfo said. “I felt protected.”

Two female students told CNN in an interview that they heard five shots, one initial bang followed by four rapid shots. Voices shaking, the girls told CNN that students still inside the school hid in closets and texted updates to friends who had made it outside.

Another three students told the network that they were by the school library and saw a wave of classmates sprinting from the quad. They began running, too, leaving campus through a gate and rushing to the first house they could find in a nearby neighborhood, the girls said.

They also heard five shots, and said they could immediately tell the bang they heard was not the sound of a popping balloon or a falling binder. They said it was a “gut feeling.”

“It took us a minute to process that we needed to run,” one of the female students said on air. )

The girls said they knew it wasn’t a drill because the school holds drills only after the school day has started. The mayhem unfolded as students were still making their way to class early Thursday morning.

Another student told KABC in an interview that she and other students huddled in an office when gunfire opened. The student said she texted her father to say, “I love you.”

Saugus High, on a campus lined with palm trees, has about 2, 400 students, according to federal data. Earlier this year, a half-dozen students from Santa Clarita were detained on charges stemming from violent threats posted online,the Los Angeles Times reported.

On Thursday, television footage showed students evacuating the school and emergency vehicles responding, with people in gurneys being loaded into ambulances on

President Trump was monitoring the situation, according to a White House spokesman.