LOS ANGELES (AP) – A girl believed to be 12 years old opened fire Thursday in a middle school classroom, critically wounding one classmate and injuring three others, authorities said.
Police arrested the girl and recovered a gun after the shooting that happened just before 9 a.m. at Salvador B. Castro Middle School near downtown, said Steve Zipperman, chief of the Los Angeles Unified School District police force. A possible motive was not identified as the investigation was in its early stages.
News footage showed a dark-haired girl in a sweatshirt being led from the school in handcuffs as anxious parents and family members gathered on a street corner, talking on their phones and awaiting word about their children.
Diego Salinas had just dropped his 12-year-old sister at the school and was stunned when she called minutes later to say there had been a shooting.
“There were so many things crossing my mind,” said Salinas, who was still shaking hours later. “I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. I wanted to run. I wanted do so many things.”