PALMDALE, Calif. — A 14-year-old boy used a rifle to shoot a former classmate in the arm Friday at their California high school and dumped the gun in a field before he was caught in a shopping center, authorities said.
Reports of the shooting and an ultimately false report of another attack at a nearby elementary school sparked chaos, terrifying parents and drawing a massive police response in the high desert city of Palmdale in Southern California.
Police descended on Highland High School after dozens of 911 calls and some reports that there were hostages in the campus library, Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell said.
As officers swarmed the library, more 911 calls came in reporting that gunshots were heard at an elementary school across town.
Dozens of officers with several agencies blanketed both campuses looking for possible shooters and victims. Meanwhile Antelope Valley Hospital was told several people were dead and as many as 25 students were injured, said Dr. Paveletrik, chief of surgery at the trauma center.
In the end, there was just one shooting and one victim, at Highland High School, about 40 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
Los Angeles County deputies detained a 14-year-old former Highland High School student in the shooting of a 15-year-old boy, who was hit in the arm.
The shooting was sparked by a dispute between the two students, said Capt. Darren Harris with the sheriff’s department.
“We were very fortunate that the incident wasn’t much worse than it was,” McDonnell said at a news conference.
