Los Angeles school shooting: 12-year-old suspect in custody after two students are shot

Injuries sustained are not life-threatening, authorities say

Los Angeles police officers close off a street where a shooting occurred at a middle school (AP Photo/Amanda Lee Myers)

A 12-year-old female was in custody after two teenagers were injured in a middle school shooting, authorities said.

By early afternoon a lockdown at Salvador Castro Middle School and Belmont High School in Los Angeles was lifted, and the immediate task for authorities turned from ensuring the safety of students to trying to determine the cause of the shooting.

A 15-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy were transported to a local trauma centre, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. Authorities said the injuries were not life-threatening. The boy, who was shot in the head, was in stable but critical condition while the girl, who was shot in the wrist, was in fair condition. Three other people — an 11-year-old boy, a 12-year-old girl and a 30-year-old woman — also sustained minor injuries but had not been shot.

Officials said it was too early to determine a motive or explain how the shooter was able to obtain a gun and bring it onto campus. It was unclear if the suspected shooter had intentionally fired at specific targets or had discharged the weapon accidentally

“As a community we have to examine what is it that would make a child want to come to school with a gun,” interim Los Angeles County Unified Superintendent Vivian Ekchian said.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said one task for investigators would be learning how a gun found its way into the school. City Attorney Mike Feuer said he did not know how the assailant obtained a gun but noted that, in the past, adults have been prosecuted for allowing minors access to firearms.

“This is a very important call to action to every adult in our community,” Mr Feuer said, point to laws mandating safe gun storage

After arriving on the scene authorities were able to take the suspect into custody “without further incident”, Los Angeles Police Department Lt Chris Ramirez said, and recovered a semiautomatic weapon.

As the day unfolded, distraught parents gathered at a softball field to try and learn more about what had happened. Footage from the scene showed police vehicles surrounding the school's campus and young people being led out of classrooms by authorities.

“We know this is a very traumatic incident for all the children involved particularly inside that classroom,” Steve Zipperman of the Los Angeles School Police Department said, adding that mental health professionals would be available to help.