Two students died as a result of their injuries. The alleged gunman, a 16-year-old, was apprehended by the police.
Two people died and several others were wounded on Thursday, November 14, in a shootout on the Saugus High School campus in Santa Clarita, north of Los Angeles, California. The suspect fled after opening fire at the school, where some 2,400 young people go to school. He was found by the police about an hour later, among the wounded who had been evacuated.
"We placed the suspect under arrest. He is currently being treated in a local hospital. This is a student, a boy aged 16 " and Asian-type, said Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, on CBS television.
They were witnesses as well as CCTV images that identified the suspect, he explained. He did not specify his condition or the nature of his injuries, but said that the teenager could have tried to kill himself after his action.
Debate in the Senate
Prior to the announcement of the arrest, local media reported that the suspect had committed suicide, citing sources in the police. The shooter had previously been actively sought after by many police officers deployed in the surrounding residential area and the nearby hills of Saugus High School.
The sheriff's services had called on the residents of the area to stay at home and lock their doors until further notice. The high school campus, where hundreds of students had remained cloistered while waiting for the go-ahead from the authorities, was thoroughly searched by law enforcement officials for nearly an hour to rule out danger.
The tragedy occurred around 7:40 am local time (4:40 pm, Paris) while many high school students were already underway and others were continuing to arrive. All the other schools nearby had been placed as a security measure in a state of confinement, as is the custom in the United States, where such tragedies are frequent.
The country has experienced in recent years several school killings, which shocked public opinion without really calling into question the free proliferation of firearms.
Ironically, the tragedy occurred just when the Senate was debating in Washington a possible tightening of the legislation on this subject. "How can we look elsewhere? How can we refuse to see that this shooting, which is going on right now, requires us to act? "said Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal.
