At least five people are dead following a shooting at a primary school in Northern California on Tuesday morning, according to authorities.
The incident took place around 8 a.m. in Rancho Tehama about 120 miles northwest of Sacramento and spanned “multiple scenes.”
The dead includes the shooter, who was killed by police.
“At this point, the suspected shooter is deceased by law enforcement bullets,” Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston told reporters. “I know of at least three deaths.”
He added that the subject appeared to be “randomly picking targets.”
Johnston was unable to confirm a total number of victims, but did say that “a number” of students had been medically evacuated from the scene.
“We have about 100 law enforcement personnel in Rancho Tehama right now with multiple, multiple scenes,” 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.”
The school, which is attended by approximately 100 students, remains 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.”
Witnesses in the surrounding area have expressed their shock over the news.
“I thought this only happens to places like L.A. or New York,” said Jose Garcia, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Another, who identified herself only as Tiffany, told the publication she heard around 100 gunshots fired from multiple weapons.
“It’s a great community,” she said. “I am hoping it doesn’t get some kind of bad rap because of one person in one area.”
More as we get it.
