Santa Clarita, November 15, 2019: A high school student killed two classmates, wounded three others and then shot himself in the head Thursday morning at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, authorities said.
The suspect, who turned 16 on Thursday, was hospitalized in grave condition.
The shooting was first reported at 7:38 a.m. at 21900 Centurion Way.
The whole shooting took just 16 seconds. Moments after the shots rang out, the first responders on the scene were three off-duty law enforcement personnel who had just dropped their own children off at the school.
They saw children fleeing campus and immediately went inside to find out what was happening and see if they could help, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva.
Six students, including the gunman, were found in the quad area suffering from gunshot wounds, Villanueva said.
The first off-duty officer to arrive at the quad saw the .45 caliber semi-automatic gun at the scene and determined it was safe enough to begin providing first-aid.
“Their actions definitely saved lives and my hats off to them,” Villanueva said.
The school resource deputy was also on the scene moments later, he said.
All six students were transported to hospitals, where two of them, a 16-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, were later pronounced dead.
A seventh person was also transported to a hospital for a medical issue or injury that was not caused directly by the gunfire.
The surviving victims were described as two girls, ages 14 and 15 and a boy, 14. The boy was released from Henry Mayo Hospital.
Mayo hospital said it had received four patients. Their names have not been disclosed.
The sheriff said the deceased girl’s parents were at the hospital. He was notified of the second fatality during a press conference at the school.
About two hours later, authorities said to media that a third victim had died. However, they later clarified that was not the case, adding that all surviving victims were in stable condition.
