A 16-year-old gunman is in critical condition after he opened fire in a California high school on November 14. According to NBC News, 2 students are dead and more are injured as a result of the teen’s actions.
The gunman attempted to take his own life by shooting himself in the head.
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“Within Approximately 16 Seconds, It Was Over”
During the morning hours of November 14, before classes even started, shots rang out at Saugus High School. Bullets from the gun the teen pulled from his backpack while in the quad area of the school hit five students who were nearby.
According to authorities who have studied security footage of the shooting, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s captain Kent Wegener said, “Within approximately 16 seconds, it was over.”
Sharon Orelana Cordova, a student at Saugus, explained what she saw as the shooting took place to NBC Los Angeles, “When I got out, I saw this person lying down on the ground, and I saw blood all over. It was really scary. I was really, really scared. I didn’t know what was going on.”
Cordova said she was doing homework when she saw people start to run, so she started running too.
The victims who lost their lives were a 15-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy. The ages of the other students who were injured have been reported as a 14-year-old girl, a 15-year-old boy, and a 14-year-old boy.
Gracie Anne Muehlberger
The 15-year-old whose life was taken on November 14 has been identified as Gracie Anne Muehlberger. KTLA reports that Muehlberger died after being transported to a local hospital.
No other victims have been identified as of November 15.
The Shooter Identified
The shooter has been identified as Nathaniel Berhow, who was called “Nathan” by friends and family. According to students who knew him, they say he was acting totally normal in the days leading up to the unexpected shooting, as CNN reports. Some even said he was “the sweetest kid you’ll ever meet.”
Berhow was a “good student,” a boy scout, and a member of his school’s track and field team. Thursday, the day of the shooting, was allegedly Berhow’s 16th birthday. A neighbor told CNN that he was “hit hard” by the death of his father in 2017 but never noticed any warning signs.
The Motive and a Sheriff’s Response
A motive for the shooting still has yet to be revealed.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva said in a press conference following the shooting, “I hate to have Saugus be added to the names of Columbine, Parkland, Sandy Hook, but it’s a reality that affects us all throughout the nation, something we’re going to have to deal with.”
As NBC News reports, a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol with no rounds left in it was found at the scene.
The governor of California Gavin Newsom sent this message to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the President of the United States Donald J. Trump following the shooting.
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A Reported 11 School Shooting in the U.S. This Year
As The New York Times reports, there have been a reported 11 shootings that took place on either a high school campus or a college campus in the United States in 2019. These shootings occurred in all corners of the country.
The list, which reveals that shootings took place everywhere from Memphis to Baltimore to Kansas City and Charlotte, just shows that no state or its cities are immune to the epidemic that is school shootings in America.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends affected by this senseless tragedy.
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