Murder-suicide at US school claims 3 lives

San Bernardino: A man walked into a school in southern California on Monday and shot dead his estranged wife in front of her students, killing an eight-year-old boy in the crossfire before turning his gun on himself. Students at the school were transported to a nearby campus, where they were “having snacks, playing games and watching a movie”, the police said.

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San Bernardino, April 11: A man walked into a school in southern California on Monday and shot dead his estranged wife in front of her students, killing an eight-year-old boy in the crossfire before turning his gun on himself.

Police said local resident Cedric Anderson had checked into the office as a visitor after entering the campus in the city of San Bernardino and going to the special needs classroom, where he opened fire on Karen Elaine Smith, 53, as she was teaching.

Officers said Mr Anderson, also 53, had only targeted Ms Smith but two students were caught in the crossfire and one of them, Jonathan Martinez, died later in hospital.

“This does appear to have been a murder-suicide with both male adult and female adult victim succumbing to injuries, with the male succumbing to a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” lieutenant Mike Madden of the San Bernardino police department told a news conference.

Police said initially the two wounded students had been listed as critical but later confirmed Martinez’s death.