A special needs teacher and an 8-year-old boy were shot and killed in a murder-suicide at a Southern California elementary school, police said Monday.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said 53-year-old Cedric Anderson walked into North Park Elementary School and opened fire on his wife, Karen Elaine Smith, also 53, shortly before 10:30 a.m. local time before taking his own life.

Two students were wounded in the shooting. One of them, identified as 8-year-old Jonathan Martinez, was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. The other injured student, aged 9, was in stable condition.

Burguan said both students were standing behind Smith when the shooting began, but he does not believe they were targeted. The chief said Anderson had a criminal record, including weapons and domestic violence charges, but said he had no specifics.

The chief said Anderson and Smith had only been married for a few months and had been estranged for at least a month.

"No one has come forward to say they saw this coming," Burguan said.

A post on what appeared to be Karen Smith's Facebook page invited friends to the couple's wedding in January. The following month, Anderson posted a 12-second video in which he said Smith was "making me really happy" and "knows when to ignore me."

"That makes a happy marriage," Anderson added.

San Bernardino City Unified School District superintendent Dale Marsden said Anderson was "known to staff" at the school and told workers that he had come to drop something off for his wife before the shooting.

The 600 other students at the school were bused to safety at California State University's San Bernardino campus, several miles away. Television news footage showed students, escorted by police officers, walking off campus hand-in-hand.



As word of the shooting spread, panicked parents raced to the school, some in tears, some praying as they anxiously sought information about their children. They were told to go to a nearby high school where they would be reunited.



Four hours later, the children began to arrive at the high school, getting hugs from emotional parents. As the students got off the buses, many of them carrying glow sticks they had been given to pass the time with, police officers applauded and high-fived them.



When the buses first pulled away, some parents ran alongside, waving and trying to recognize their children inside. Many said their children were too young to have cellphones. Others said the phones rang unanswered.



Among those waiting anxiously at the high school for her 9-year-old granddaughter's return was Alberta Terrell, who said she cried with relief when she was told that a family friend saw the girl getting safely onto a bus.



"I was really elated. But I won't be truly happy until I see her and can give her a big hug," Terrell said as she sat in the bleachers near Cajon High School's baseball diamond.



"It's frustrating for us as parents but also understandable," Holly Penalber said of the long wait, which most parents seemed resigned to.



Penalber's 9-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter attend the school. She called Monday's shootings "every parent's worst nightmare."



San Bernardino, a city of 216,000 people about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, was the site of a December 2015 terror attack that killed 14 people and wounded 22 others at a meeting of San Bernardino County employees. Husband-and-wife shooters Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik were later killed in a gunbattle with authorities.



Monday's shooting was the latest tragedy for a city that has struggled in recent years with more than its share of them. Once a major rail hub and citrus producer, San Bernardino filed for bankruptcy in 2012 after struggling to pay its employees despite steep cuts to the budget.



An outlying suburb of Los Angeles, it was hit hard when the Great Recession sent housing prices tumbling. As the city struggled with economic problems that forced layoffs of police and other government workers, violent crimes, particularly homicide, began to rise.



In the past year, however, the city seemed to be making a recovery. Burguan, who won national praise for the way his department responded to the 2015 shootings, announced last year he was hiring additional officers.



Click for more from Fox 11.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.contributed to this report.</s>(CNN) A Southern California man fatally shot his estranged wife inside an elementary school classroom attended by special needs children before killing himself on Monday, San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said.

Two students were injured in the murder-suicide at North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino, and one of those children later died at a hospital, Burguan said.

Burguan said the shooter, Cedric Anderson, 53, of Riverside, walked into the classroom armed with a large caliber revolver and opened fire "without saying anything," killing Karen Elaine Smith, 53, also of Riverside. Smith was a teacher at the school.

A photo from Cedric Anderson's Facebook page shows him and Karen Smith together. The two were estranged at the time of Monday's shooting, police said.

The two students struck by gunfire were standing behind Smith, the police chief said.

Jonathan Martinez, 8, died at Loma Linda University Medical Center after being airlifted from the school, the police chief said. The other student, a 9-year-old boy, was listed in stable condition at the medical center, according to the hospital.

Police do not believe the two children were targeted; they happened to be near the teacher.

Burguan said that at the time of the shooting there were 15 students from grades one through four in the special needs classroom, along with two adult aides.

We had over 70 deputies respond to Northpark Elementary and our aviation crew transported the young boy. We are sorry we couldn't do more. — John McMahon (@sheriffmcmahon) April 10, 2017

"This is a tragic incident that has befallen our city," San Bernardino Police Lt. Michael Madden told reporters.

How shooting unfolded

Police received reports of the shooting at the school shortly before 10:30 a.m., and officers responded within minutes, Madden said.

San Bernardino Police Capt. Ron Maass, the incident commander, said Anderson had gone to the classroom to visit Smith. There is no indication the suspect's handgun was visible when he entered the school, Maass said.

Anderson signed in at the front office when he entered the school, according to Maass. He said he believed Anderson was known to the front office.

Suspect in shooting identified as Cedric Anderson, age 53, resident of Riverside, CA. pic.twitter.com/H9YYQZvZud — San Bernardino PD (@SanBernardinoPD) April 10, 2017

Burguan said Anderson told employees in the office he wanted to drop something off with his wife and then headed to the classroom. He added that it is not uncommon for a spouse to gain access to a school campus to meet with their partner.

"He came in, and very, very quickly upon entering the classroom started shooting," Burguan said.

Anderson also reloaded after firing what is believed to have been a .357-caliber revolver, the police chief said.

Two adults are deceased in a classroom, believed to be a murder suicide. We believe the suspect is down and there's no further threat. — Chief Jarrod Burguan (@SBPDChief) April 10, 2017

Burguan said preliminary information indicates the two were recently married.

"I'm told that their marriage was relatively short. They've only been married for a few months and they've been separated for about the last month, month-and-a-half, roughly, when this incident took place," he said. "But there's nobody that in the investigation has come forward to say that they saw this coming."

Victim in school shooting identified as Karen Smith, age 53, estranged wife of suspect. pic.twitter.com/IaC7RCtVhl — San Bernardino PD (@SanBernardinoPD) April 10, 2017

The police chief said Anderson "does have a criminal history."

Court records showed that he had faced criminal charges of brandishing a weapon, assault and crimes against public peace in 2013, with those charges later "dismissed or not prosecuted." There had also been two petitions for temporary restraining orders filed against him by women in previous years.

Another tragedy for San Bernardino

Earlier in the day, San Bernardino Mayor R. Carey Davis said: "Far too often in our country and throughout the world, we gather to report this news of tragic events that take place."

JUST WATCHED Remembering the victims of San Bernardino shooting Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Remembering the victims of San Bernardino shooting 02:43

San Bernardino was the site of a mass shooting in December 2015, in which 14 people were killed when a couple opened fire at a holiday party held by the county's health department.

The mayor said that after the 2015 terror attack, the community came together and showed that it could be "very resilient and can deal with tragedy, disaster just as effectively as any community in the United States. And we did that. And we will continue to do that in this occasion."

"We will rise to help our parents, our teachers to regroup and to once again gain confidence in our community," Davis said.

Frantic parents seek to reunite with their kids

On Monday, North Park students were evacuated and reunited with their parents at nearby Cajon High School, police said. Video showed community members lining up to cheer on and give high-fives to students arriving at Cajon High.

North Park ES students are being evacuated to Cajon HS. North Park parents should report to Cajon and have picture ID to pick up students. — SBCUSD (@SB_CitySchools) April 10, 2017

Frantic parents rushed to North Park Elementary after the shooting.

JUST WATCHED Distraught parents await news outside school Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Distraught parents await news outside school 01:34

Brad Hendran told CNN affiliate KABC he was looking for his daughter, who is in the second grade.

"I fell to my knees and started saying Our Fathers and Hail Marys. ... I'm gonna hug her. ... I'm gonna hug her. I hope she is OK," Hendran said.

One father, who wasn't identified by the CNN affiliate, stood behind police tape, looking for one of his sons. He said his two boys are in second grade and fifth grade.

"I see one of my boys, but not the smallest one," he said tearfully. His eldest son had just gotten on a bus, he said.

He was at work when he heard about the shooting from the boys' mom, who works for the school district.

North Park Elementary will be closed for at least the next two days.

"I would like our community and our nation to keep our families in prayer," San Bernardino City Unified School District Superintendent Dale Marsden said.

"It's going to take time for our heads, our hearts to heal." Marsden added.

A prayer vigil was held Monday night at a San Bernardino church, Our Lady of the Assumption.</s>Students are evacuated after a shooting at North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino, California on April 10, 2017.

NBC News / NBC News</s>A gunman walked into a classroom at North Park Elementary School at around 10.30 a.m on monday killing a teacher and an eight year old student before committing suicide.</s>An 8-year-old student and his teacher were shot and killed when the teacher's estranged husband entered her classroom at North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino, California, Monday morning and opened fire.

San Bernardino Police say Cedric Anderson, 53, checked in with school authorities under the guise of having to drop something off for Karen Smith, 53. He entered her special needs classroom with a large-caliber revolver and opened fire without saying a word, police said, before he turned the gun on himself.

Two students were standing behind Smith when she was shot and were hit by gunfire; both were rushed to local hospitals, and police say Jonathan Martinez, 8, died before he was able to undergo surgery. A 9-year-old student remains hospitalized. San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said there were 15 students from the first through fourth grades in the classroom, as well as two adult aides. He also said Anderson and Smith had been married for just a few months. Catherine Garcia</s>SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — A teacher and a student were shot to death and a second student critically wounded Monday in a murder-suicide at a San Bernardino elementary school that spread panic across a city still recovering emotionally from a terrorist attack at a community center just 15 months ago.

The suspected shooter who opened fired in a classroom at North Park School also died. A school official said the attack was believed to stem from a “domestic dispute” and that the teacher knew the gunman.

Two wounded students were flown to a hospital where an 8-year-old later died. The other student was listed in critical condition.

“The children we do not believe were targeted,” police Capt. Ron Maass told reporters.

The 600 other students at the school were bused to safety at California State University’s San Bernardino campus, several miles away. Television news footage showed students, escorted by police officers, walking off campus hand-in-hand.

As word of the shooting spread, panicked parents raced to the school, some in tears, some praying as they anxiously sought information about their children. They were told to go to a nearby high school where they would be reunited.

Four hours later, the children began to arrive at the high school, getting hugs from emotional parents. As the students got off the buses, many of them carrying glow sticks they had been given to pass the time with, police officers applauded and high-fived them.

When the buses first pulled away, some parents ran alongside, waving and trying to recognize their children inside. Many said their children were too young to have cellphones. Others said the phones rang unanswered.

Among those waiting anxiously at the high school for her 9-year-old granddaughter’s return was Alberta Terrell, who said she cried with relief when she was told that a family friend saw the girl getting safely onto a bus.

“I was really elated. But I won’t be truly happy until I see her and can give her a big hug,” Terrell said as she sat in the bleachers near Cajon High School’s baseball diamond.

“It’s frustrating for us as parents but also understandable,” Holly Penalber said of the long wait, which most parents seemed resigned to.

Penalber’s 9-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter attend the school. She called Monday’s shootings “every parent’s worst nightmare.”

San Bernardino, a city of 216,000 people about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, was the site of a December 2015 terror attack that killed 14 people and wounded 22 others at a meeting of San Bernardino County employees. Husband-and-wife shooters Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik were later killed in a gunbattle with authorities.

Monday’s shooting was the latest tragedy for a city that has struggled in recent years with more than its share of them. Once a major rail hub and citrus producer, San Bernardino filed for bankruptcy in 2012 after struggling to pay its employees despite steep cuts to the budget.

An outlying suburb of Los Angeles, it was hit hard when the Great Recession sent housing prices tumbling. As the city struggled with economic problems that forced layoffs of police and other government workers, violent crimes, particularly homicide, began to rise.

In the past year, however, the city seemed to be making a recovery. Police Chief Jarrod Burguan, who won national praise for the way his department responded to the 2015 shootings, announced last year he was hiring additional officers.</s>SAN BERNARDINO — One of the two children who were wounded Monday morning during an apparent murder-suicide at an elementary school in San Bernardino has died, officials confirmed.

Student Jonathan Martinez, 8, was airlifted to Loma Linda Medical Center after the shooting where he later died from his injuries, police said.

Police responded to North Park Elementary School, located at 5378 N. H St., at 10:27 a.m. after receiving reports of an active shooter on campus, according to San Bernardino City Unified School District spokeswoman Maria Garcia. Police said the children were not the gunman’s targets.

Responding officers found the suspected gunman, Cedric Anderson, and a female teacher dead in a classroom, as well as the two injured students, according to San Bernardino Police Department Chief Jarrod Burguan. Police said the teacher was Anderson’s wife, Karen Smith.

Officials said the children were standing behind their teacher when Anderson allegedly opened fire on his wife.

The second injured student remains in critical condition.

A motive for the shooting was not immediately known.</s>Authorities say an 8-year-old special needs student, Jonathan Martinez, was among three people killed early Monday morning during a shooting at an elementary school in San Bernardino, California.

According to The Washington Post, 53-year-old Cedric Anderson arrived at the North Park Elementary School on April 10 and checked in at the front office.

Anderson reportedly walked into a special education classroom with 15 students and two aides, without uttering a word, and pulled out a large caliber revolver.

He aimed the gun in the direction of Karen Elaine Smith, also 53, who is his estranged wife and the lead teacher at the elementary school, and opened fire.

It was stated that two students, Johnathan and a 9-year-old whose identity has been withheld, were standing near the elementary school teacher during the shooting.

Police officers arrived at the North Park Elementary School 10:30 a.m. after receiving a call about an active shooter at an elementary school.

Immediately taking action, officers escorted about 600 elementary school students to California State University’s San Bernardino campus, which is several miles away, for shelter.

San Bernardino officers soon discovered that after the suspected gunman shot his wife and two students, he reloaded his gun apparently took his own life before officers arrived at the scene.

Emergency medical services transported the injured students to the Loma Linda University Medical Center’s trauma center, where they were listed in critical condition.

Just shortly after arrival, Johnathan died of his injuries.

The other student remains hospitalized, but is listed in stable condition.

Officers say the North Park Elementary School teacher died at the scene.

Although it is not clear why the husband shot his wife dead at the school, San Bernardino police Capt. Ron Maass said during a news conference that the children were not the gunman’s target.

He added, “We believe the two children were the unfortunate recipients of injuries by being in the proximity to the female at the time of the incident.”

According to the teacher’s Facebook page, she married the suspected gunman—who she had known for years—on January 28 of this year at a church on Crenshaw Boulevard.

Smith believed he was a “man of faith,” and that they could live the rest of their lives together, but according to her mother, Irma Sykes, her daughter “thought she had a wonderful husband, but she found out he was not wonderful at all. He had other motives. She left him and that’s where the trouble began.”

In a recent report, officers say after Anderson—who has a military background—moved into Smith’s Riverside home, another side of him emerged.

Sykes refused to elaborate on what happened in the Anderson home but she did, however, state that the San Bernardino gunman had been accused of domestic violence.

A month after joining lives, Smith put an end to their relationship, and she was contemplating divorce but that never happened as she was shot dead in her special education classroom.

Four hours after the deadly school shooting, students at the North Park Elementary School were transported to Cajon high school where they would be reunited with their parents.

Project Islamic Hope Najee Ali, who knew the suspect from community activism, stated that he was a “respected pastor,” but after learning that Anderson shot his estranged wife at North Park Elementary School, that changed.

Ali said, “None of us knew the dark side in his private life. It seems he snapped. He couldn’t handle it and chose to deal with it in the most cowardly manner possible. I can’t forgive that. I hope he burns in h*** for what he did.”

Smith leaves behind four children, including Joshua Smith, who said his mother “loved life, her career, and especially her children.”

In a statement, the San Bernardino City Unified School District stated as follows:</s>SAN BERNARDINO >> Two adults and an 8-year-old child are dead and another child was wounded in an apparent murder-suicide Monday at North Park Elementary School.

Cedric Anderson, 53, of Riverside came to the school shortly before 10:30 a.m. on Monday, police say.

“He simply said he was there to drop something off there with his wife,” San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said at an afternoon news conference.

Anderson went to his wife’s classroom. Karen Elaine Smith, 53, was there with two aides and 15 special-needs students between first and fourth grades. The pair had been married since Jan. 28, but had already been separated for several weeks, Burguan said.
• More Coverage: Live updates from the North Park Elementary School shooting

“Without saying anything, armed with a large caliber revolver, he opened fire on his wife,” Burguan said. “She was killed in the exchange.”

Anderson emptied the six-shot .357 Magnum revolver and reloaded using a speed-loader firing at least one additional round.

Student Jonathan Martinez, 8, and another student, who has not been identified, were behind the teacher and were also shot. Jonathan was airlifted by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department to Loma Linda University Medical Center, where he later died of his injuries. The second child, a 9-year-old boy, was in critical but stable condition as of 3:30 p.m. Monday.
• Photos: Three dead, one wounded in San Bernardino school shooting

Police do not believe Anderson intentionally targeted the children. And, San Bernardino City Unified School District Superintendent Dale Marsden said, all district policies were complied with when Anderson was let onto campus.

“After that exchange, the suspect turned the gun on himself and killed himself,” Burguan said.

The school, at 5378 H St., was locked down.

About 150 police officers from the San Bernardino Police Department, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, San Bernardino City Unified school police, Rialto Police Department and California Highway Patrol responded to the shooting, along with the San Bernardino County Fire Department.
• Related Story: Riverside home connected to San Bernardino school shooting being investigated by police

North Park students were evacuated to Cal State San Bernardino and then shuttled to Cajon High School, after their parents arrived and showed proof of identification.

In the meantime, North Park students were made comfortable in a university gym, with sandwiches, movies, games and glow sticks, as well as Sherlock, the San Bernardino Police Department’s community affairs dog. North Park educates about 531 students, according to the California Department of Education.

“I am still a little shaken up,” school board vice president Abigail Medina said. “A lot of (school board members) have our children in the school district, so it hits home. It’s a terrible incident.”

Medina said she has three children attending schools in the district, none of them at North Park.

Former San Bernardino City Unified school board member Judi Penman said the school’s police department “is very well prepared” for situations such as the shooting Monday.

“It is one of the most organized and well-prepared police departments around,” she said. “It interacts and trains with the city police department, and they are well prepared for this type of situation.”

School police previously worked with city officers in the Dec. 2, 2015, San Bernardino terrorist attack. Echoing that day, a call came from the White House and Gov. Jerry Brown called to offer condolences and aid, San Bernardino Mayor Carey Davis said during the news conference.

North Park Elementary will be closed for at least Tuesday and Wednesday. All other district schools will remain open.

Also, connected to Monday’s school shooting, a Riverside home was surrounded by a police SWAT team early afternoon Monday. The unit used a loudspeaker to draw out any occupants, then left with one person who came out of the Mt. Wasatch Drive home in the Orangecrest gated community, a neighbor said.

Superintendent Marsden has a message to parents at the district.

“I would like you to work with your young child to keep things as normal as possible,” Marsden said. “Be willing to listen to their story as many times as possible. And be ready to model for them a healthy response.”

Staff writers Richard De Atley, Brian Rokos, Doug Saunders, and Beatriz Valenzuela contributed to this story.</s>SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Four people were shot Monday in an apparent murder-suicide inside an elementary school classroom in San Bernardino, including a teacher and two students, police and school officials said.

Two students were airlifted to a hospital after what's believed to be a domestic dispute, San Bernardino City Unified School District spokeswoman Maria Garcia told news station KNBC-TV.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said on Twitter that four victims were being treated in what investigators suspect was a murder-suicide.

The shooting happened at the North Park School. Students gathered on a field near a line of school buses and other vehicles, including fire trucks. The scene was not chaotic, but police stood nearby.

She said all other students are safe and they are being taken to a local college campus.

The city of 216,000 was the site of the December 2015 terror attack that killed 14 people and wounded 22 others at a meeting of San Bernardino County employees. Husband-and-wife shooters Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik were killed in a gunbattle with authorities later that day.
An elementary school teacher and an 8-year-old student were shot and killed by the teacher's estranged husband, who then killed himself, at North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino, California. Another student, a 9-year-old boy who was also behind the teacher, was wounded.