L.A. school shooting believed to be accident
Girl, 12, in custody; four students injured
LOS ANGELES — A 12-year-old girl was booked on suspicion of negligent discharge of a firearm Thursday after a shooting at Sal Castro Middle School left four students injured, authorities said.
Los Angeles police do not believe that the shooting was intentional, spokesman Josh Rubenstein said Thursday evening.
The gunfire erupted in a classroom at the school in the Westlake neighborhood shortly after the opening bell and caused numerous students to run from the area, Los Angeles Police Officer Drake Madison said.
A semiautomatic handgun was recovered from the scene.
At least one student who was in the classroom told a reporter he thought the gunfire was unintentional.
“Someone decided to bring a gun, I guess someone was accidentally playing around with it,” said Benjamin, a 12-year-old seventh-grader, whose guardian asked that his last name not be used. “They thought it was a fake gun.”
When authorities responded around 8:55 a.m., they found a 15-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to the head, a 15-year-old girl shot in the wrist and three others with minor injuries.
The boy, who was shot in the temple, was in stable condition Thursday afternoon, and was expected to fully recover, said Dr. Carl Chudnofsky of L.A. County-usc Medical Center. The girl, who was shot in the left wrist, was in fair condition.
Three others — a 30-year-old woman, an 11-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl — also suffered minor injuries, including two from gunshots, health officials said.
At a news conference outside the hospital Thursday, Dr. Aaron Strumwasser said the 15-year-old boy was extremely lucky because the bullet wound failed to cause serious damage. “I think he will do fine,” Strumwasser said.
The suspected shooter was taken into custody and a firearm was recovered, officials said. Helicopter news footage showed two officers leading a handcuffed girl with long hair, jeans and a sweatshirt to a waiting squad car.
Sabrina Colon, 12, was in her seventh-grade math class when she heard a muffled bang from the class next door.
“I stayed quiet and then we started seeing students run,” she said.
The kids said a student had been shot. Sabrina’s teacher ran out to help.
“They were saying, ‘Help, my friend’s vein popped, there’s blood all over,’” said Sean Contreras, another student in Sabrina’s classroom.
Around the same time, Ruth Saenz’s cellphone buzzed with a series of strange texts from her daughter.
“Mom I’m scared,” the first one said. “This girls vane popes.”