Los Angeles, Nov. 15 (IANS): At least five persons were killed following shootings at multiple locations in Tehama County in Northern California in the US, including an elementary school where at least two children were wounded.
Authorities described a chaotic scene in which a gunman on Tuesday appeared to pick targets at random in the rural Northern California county, the Los Angeles Times reported. The gunman was fatally shot by the sheriff’s deputies.
The gunman’s name has not been released. The Tehama County Sheriff’s Office said it was dealing with at least five crime scenes and trying to assess the number of casualties.
The authorities said the shootings appear to have begun as a “domestic violence incident” but did not provide details.
They said the gunfire began around 8 a.m. in Rancho Tehama, near Red Bluff, about about 193 km from Sacramento.
Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston did not have a total number of victims, but said “a number” of students had been medically evacuated from the school grounds.
A semi-automatic rifle and two handguns that the gunman carried were recovered at one scene, he said.
“We have about 100 law enforcement personnel in Rancho Tehama right now,” Johnston said.
“I know that we have (airlifted) a number of students,” he told reporters. “I know that we have children that were attending school in a safe location at this time.”
Nearby residents and business owners said they heard at least 100 gunshots.
“I thought this only happens to places like L.A. or New York,” Jose Garcia, owner of La Fortune Convenience, told the Los Angeles Times.
Coy Ferreira, a parent at the school, told KRCR-TV that he heard a series of gunshots through a classroom window and saw one young boy shot in the foot and chest and a second student shot in the arm. Both were alert and conscious, he said.
The owner of a nearby cafe, Coffee Addiction, told The Times that she called 911 after hearing gunfire and screaming at the elementary school.
The woman, who identified herself only as Tiffany, said she heard about 100 rounds fired.
Rancho Tehama has a population of about 1,485, according to a census estimate.
The school and surrounding community were on lockdown.
“We have had an active shooter incident at Rancho Tehama Elementary this morning,” read a statement from the Corning Union Elementary School District website.
“There are confirmed injuries. We are cooperating with law enforcement during this investigation but do not have specific details at this time.”
