2 adults, 1 child die in school shooting
Police: Teacher’s estranged husband was the assailant.
SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF. — Authorities said a man told a San Bernardino school that he had come to drop something off for his teacher-wife before shooting and killing her and a student in a special-needs classroom.
Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said Monday at a news conference that 53-year-old Karen Elaine Smith was targeted and that her estranged husband, 53-year-old Cedric Anderson, opened fire ‘‘very, very quickly upon entering the classroom.’’ There were 15 students in the classroom.
Burguan said Anderson shot and killed himself after shooting his wife. Two children standing behind Smith were struck by gunfire, killing 8-year-old Jonathan Martinez and wounding a 9-yearold boy.
San Bernardino City Unified School District superintendent Dale Marsden said Anderson was “known to staff ” at North Park Elementary School.
“The children we do not believe were targeted,” police Capt. Ron Maass said.
The 600 other students at the school were bused to safety at California State University’s San Bernardino campus, several miles away. Television news footage showed students, escorted by police officers, walking off campus hand-in-hand.
As word of the shooting spread, panicked parents raced to the school, some in tears, some praying as they anxiously sought information about their children. They were told to go to a nearby high school where they would be reunited.
Four hours later, the children began to arrive at the high school, getting hugs from emotional parents. As the students got off the buses, many of them carrying glow sticks they had been given to pass the time with, police officers applauded and highfived them.
When the buses first pulled away, some parents ran alongside, waving and trying to recognize their children inside. Many said their children were too young to have cellphones. Others said the phones rang unanswered.
Among those waiting anxiously at the high school for her 9-year-old granddaughter’s return was Alberta Terrell, who said she cried with relief when she was told that a family friend saw the girl getting safely onto a bus.
“I was really elated. But I won’t be truly happy until I see her and can give her a big hug,” Terrell said as she sat in the bleachers near Cajon High School’s baseball diamond. ‘“It’s frustrating for us as parents but also understandable,” Holly Penalber said of the long wait, which most parents seemed resigned to.
Penalber’s 9-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter attend the school. She called Monday’s shootings “every parent’s worst nightmare.”