The shooter opened fire Thursday at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California, killing two students and wounding three others. The suspect -- a 16-year-old student at the school -- allegedly carried out the attack on his 16th birthday.
Two victims ages 16 and 14 died at the hospital and an additional three students were wounded. The suspect is hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said.
Weapon apparently jammed, sheriff says
The shooting added Santa Clarita to a growing list of cities affected by a mass shooting in what's become a recurring nightmare in the United States.
The shooter walked into the school's quad area carrying a backpack Thursday morning. He retrieved a .45-caliber pistol without saying a word and fired one round, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said. After shooting one student, he cleared a jam on the weapon and fired an additional four rounds at others before turning the gun on himself.
"That ended it all in 16 seconds," he added.
Officers entered school within seconds
The first people at the scene were three off-duty law enforcement officers who were dropping off their children at the school, Villanueva said.
Detective Daniel Finn of the Santa Clarita Sheriff's Station was driving away when he heard gunshots and saw terrified children run out of the school. He turned his car around and rushed into the school, the sheriff said.
Officer Sean Yanez of Inglewood police and LAPD's Gus Ramirez also rushed to the scene, he added. All three were off-duty and entered the school within seconds, he said.
"It's a tragedy every way you look at it but there's a silver lining behind this," the sheriff said. "The fact that off-duty first responders were there and did not hesitate ... and they rendered first aid immediately."
The officers saw a gun nearby, and realized the threat is likely over and focused on saving the victims, he said.
The suspect has been identified as Nathaniel Berhow, two law enforcement sources told CNN. His father died in 2017 of natural causes, Villanueva told CNN affiliate KCBS.
There appears to be no connection between him and the victims other than they were all students, the sheriff said.
Students hid in strangers' homes
Student Brooklyn Moreno was waiting for her first class to begin when the first shot rang out.
"Everyone thought it was a balloon, and it got really quiet. And then two more shots, and then everyone just ran out of the school," she told the affiliate. She ran across a street to someone's house and waited until someone picked her up.
Larry Everhart was leaving his house to get coffee when he saw screaming students sprinting down his street.
"They were saying, 'Can I come in your house?' It was about 20 of them. I wanted to make sure they were safe, so I got them in there," he told the affiliate.
Saugus High School has 2,400 students and is 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
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2019-11-15 08:52:00Z
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