National

5 dead after shooting at elementary school in Northern California

A special agent with the California Department of Justice walks a student from the Discovery Montessori school to her parents after being on lock-down because a suspect in the multiple shootings of officers in Sacramento and Placer County on Friday, Oct. 24, 2014. A suspect armed with a rifle left one Sacramento shefiff’s deputy dead, a motorist gravely injured, and two Placer Conty sheriff’s deputies wounded in a 30-mile crime spree. (Hector Amezcua/Sacramento Bee/MCT)

By Frank Shyong, Jaclyn Cosgrove and Sonali Kohli | Los Angeles Times
November 14, 2017

At least five people are dead following a shooting at an elementary school in Northern California on Tuesday morning, according to authorities.

The gunman, who was killed by police, was among the dead, authorities said.

“At this point, the suspected shooter is deceased by law enforcement bullets,” Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston told reporters. “I know of at least three deaths.”

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Authorities said the shooting occurred around 8 a.m. in Rancho Tehama, near Red Bluff, about 120 miles northwest of Sacramento.

Johnston did not have a total number of victims, but said that “a number” of students had been medically evacuated from the scene.

“We have about 100 law enforcement personnel in Rancho Tehama right now with multiple, multiple scenes,” Johnston said.

“I know that we have (airlifted) a number of students,” he told reporters. “I know that we have children that were attending school in a safe location at this time.”

Officials said the Rancho Tehama area remains on lockdown.

“We have had an active shooter incident at Rancho Tehama Elementary this morning,” read a statement from the Corning Union Elementary School District website. “There are confirmed injuries. We are cooperating with law enforcement during this investigation but do not have specific details at this time.”

Residents and business owners said they heard at least 100 gunshots.

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“I thought this only happens to places like L.A. or New York,” said Jose Garcia, owner of La Fortune Convenience.

Coy Ferreira, a parent at the school, told KRCR-TV that he heard a series of gunshots through a classroom window and saw one young boy shot in the foot and chest and a second student shot in the arm. Both were alert and conscious, he said.

The owner of a nearby cafe, Coffee Addiction, told the Los Angeles Times that she called 911 after hearing gunfire and screaming at the elementary school.

The woman, who identified herself only as Tiffany, said she heard about 100 rounds fired from what sounded like multiple guns.

The business owner said she and her husband and their four children moved to the area from Redding, California, about seven years ago. She said that they have always felt safe.

“It’s a great community,” she said. “I am hoping it doesn’t get some kind of bad rap because of one person in one area.”

Rancho Tehama has a population of roughly 3,500 people, she said.

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