From the BBC:
“California school shooting: Two
teenage students killed in Santa Clarita”
Two students, aged 16 and 14,
have been killed and three others injured by a gunman who opened fire at a
secondary school in California, officials say. The victims died in a brief,
16-second gun attack shortly before classes began on Thursday at Saugus High
School in Santa Clarita, north of Los Angeles. The attack came on the 16th
birthday of the suspect, named by US media as fellow student, Nathaniel Berhow.
The suspect then shot himself in the head and is in a critical condition. Students
and teachers spoke of how they barricaded themselves in classrooms amid chaotic
scenes, carrying out an active shooter drill that many schools have implemented
in recent years following deadly attacks around the country.
What do we know about the
shooting?
It was first reported at 07:38
local time (15:38 GMT) on Thursday, LA county sheriff Alex Villanueva said,
adding that police were at the scene within two minutes. The suspect was
standing in the school courtyard when he took a .45-calibre semi-automatic
pistol from his backpack and opened fire for about 16 seconds before turning
the gun on himself, Sheriff's Captain Kent Wegener said. "He just fires
from where he is. He doesn't chase anybody. He doesn't move," Capt Wegener
said. Students barricaded themselves in classrooms under an active shooter drill
for more than an hour as police tried to determine if the gunman was still at
large. Officers found six people
suffering from gunshot wounds and transferred them to local hospitals. The
suspect was later identified as one of those injured.
What do we know of the victims?
The names of those who died have
not yet been released. They were a 16-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy. The
three injured, also as-yet unnamed, were two girls, aged 14 and 15, and a
14-year-old boy. They are all in a stable condition. All attended Saugus High
School. The suspect had no known connection to the victims, Capt Wegener said.
What has been revealed about the
gunman?
The attack came on the suspect's
16th birthday. The motive for the attack is unknown. The FBI said it appeared
he had acted alone and was not affiliated with any particular group or
ideology. The Associated Press quoted a fellow student, Brooke Risley, as
saying the suspect was introverted but "naturally smart", adding that
he had a girlfriend and was a boy scout. AP said the boy lived locally in a
modest home, and that his father died two years ago. A neighbour told Reuters
the boy had struggled with his father's death. Investigators have searched the
home and interviewed the boy's mother and girlfriend. There were no initial
indications that he had been bullied at school. There were reports of an
Instagram posting saying "Saugus have fun at school tomorrow", but it
was later revealed the account was not owned by the suspect.
How did students and parents
react?
One student told NBC she was
doing her homework when people started running. "I was really, really
scared. I was shaking," she said. Another student, named as Azalea, told
CBS she and her classmates had barricaded the classroom door with chairs.
"It was just really scary, having everybody panic and call their parents,
saying they love you." Teacher Katie Holt told NBC she was huddled in her
office with 30 students when a girl ran in saying she had been shot. Ms Holt
dressed the injuries as best she could her with her gunshot-wound kit, with a
fellow student applying pressure. There were emotional reunions once the
lockdown was lifted. Jeff Turner, 58, told the New York Times he found his
daughter, Micah, upset and crying. "She was saying, 'I feel guilty that I
didn't stay and help the people who were shot,'" he said. "And that
was the thing that made me break down in tears."
How much security is there at
Saugus?
The school has an unarmed
sheriff's deputy and nine "campus supervisors" with guard training,
district administrator Collyn Nielson told Associated Press. There are a number
of security cameras but no metal detectors, and lockdown drills are held three
times a year.
How have officials responded?
News of the attack emerged during
a Senate debate on gun control legislation. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a
Democrat, was arguing for gun control when he was given a note with the news. "We
are complicit if we fail to act," he said. "It is not just a
political responsibility, it is a moral imperative." Acting Homeland
Security Secretary Chad Wolf said in a statement that his department took
school shootings "very seriously" and would help the authorities
"develop trainings and resources to improve response capabilities and
better protect soft targets". Gun control, and the right to bear arms, is
a divisive political issue in the US. About 40% of Americans say they own a gun
or live in a household with one, according to a 2017 survey, and the rate of
murder or manslaughter by firearm in the country is the highest in the
developed world. According to the Washington Post, more than 230,000 young
people in the US have experienced gun violence at school since the Columbine
High School massacre in Colorado in 1999. The US journal Education Week has
been listing school shootings since 2018. It says there have been 22 incidents
that have resulted in death or injury so far in 2019. There were 24 such
incidents last year, it says, but the casualty toll was higher, at 114. That
includes the 17 people killed in the deadliest incident - at Marjory Stoneman
Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Valentine's Day.
^ Another tragic shooting at a
school. There is clearly something mentally wrong with the kids that decide to
take weapons to their school to kill. It is one thing to hate things and to
commit suicide and another to hate things and kill other people. Of course now
we will start hearing from those that knew this killer of how he was such a “quiet,
shy kid” and how no one saw this coming. Then you will hear the million and one
facts throughout the previous months and maybe years that showed this kid as
unstable. It happens after almost every shooting. If people started paying more
attention and actually following up on those people who clearly seem to need help
then we can stop most of these shootings (whether at a school or any other
place) from happening. People nowadays just want to put their heads in the sand
and only focus on themselves. It is only after a attack or incident like this
shooting that, when openly questioned, they come up with the same old excuses
of there never being any signs or clues beforehand - which is almost always not the case. We need
to honor and mourn the dead students, honor the wounded and work to stop people
around the country from avoiding the reality around them with regards to all
the signs of violence and mental instability in the people they interact with
every day and get them to report what they see and find to officials (and then
having those officials actually investigate the claims.) Only then can we hope
to limit or even stop these mass shootings. ^
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