California high school shooting leaves one student in critical condition
A high school teacher and a campus supervisor talked a student into surrendering after he opened fire in a classroom, wounding a classmate at a school in California’s southern San Joaquin Valley on Thursday morning, police said.
The student had intentional targets when he brought a 12-gauge shotgun into the Taft Union High School classroom halfway through the first period, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said in a news conference.
The incident happened around 9 a.m. local time and students were evacuated to the football field, NBC affiliate KGET of Bakersfield reported.
The shooter targeted and hit a 16-year-old student in the classroom of 28, and missed firing on another student he named, Youngblood said. The wounded victim was airlifted to the hospital, where the 16-year-old remains in critical, but stable, condition.
The teacher in the classroom, along with a campus supervisor, “engaged” the shooter with conversation as students were evacuating, according to Youngbood.
When the shooter put the shotgun down, and officers were able to take him into custody. The gunman’s identity has not been released, however he was described as a 16-year-old male student who lives near the school, NBCLosAngeles.com reported.