The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Five killed in series of random gun attacks
Suspected shooter among those dead, say police
A series of shootings in rural northern California have left five people dead – including the gunman, authorities say.
Two children were among the wounded, it was confirmed.
Tehama County assistant sheriff Phil Johnston said one child was shot at a school, and another was shot while riding in a pickup truck with a woman who was also wounded.
Mr Johnston says the gunman was “randomly picking targets”.
He said there were seven shooting scenes and that there may be more victims.
Investigators have recovered a semi-automatic rifle and two handguns.
California governor Jerry Brown later said he and his wife, Anne, were saddened by the shooting that “shockingly involved schoolchildren”.
Mr Brown offered their condolences to the families who lost loved ones and said they are united with all Californians in grief.
“It’s a very a sad day for us in Tehama County,” Mr Johnston said, his voice shaking with emotion.
Stephanie Turner said she was taking her six-yearold daughter and sevenyearson to school when she saw a few cars on the side of the road.
“I thought there was a car accident,” Ms Turner told a local newspaper. “I pulled into the school and heard gunshots. I told my kids to get down on to the floor. Then I saw a guy in the back of the school with a rifle. As soon as he saw us he started shooting at us, I just took off.”
Ms Turner said the shooter’s white pick-up truck “was rammed through the bus gate,” and “he was walking around the field inside the school yard”.
Jeanine Quist of Corning Union Elementary School District said there are “confirmed injuries” of students, but declined further comment. A busload of children was transported to the office of the Rancho Tehama Association after the shootings, according to another local newspaper.
“We’re still all on lockdown here,” a woman who answered the phone at the association said.
Residents throughout the community were told by authorities to remain in their homes.
“I’ve tried to get out, and we’re still locked down,” said Mel McNeil, a retiree who’s lived in Rancho Tehama since 2005. “There’s only one road in and out of here.”
Enloe Medical Centre spokeswoman Nicole Johansson said the Chico hospital was treating three children and one adult injured in the shooting.
Mr Johnston described “multiple, multiple” crime scenes.
Mr Johnston said the suspect was randomly picking targets, according to a local television station.