Story highlights Two of the students were grazed by gunfire, had minor wounds

Student faces charge of negligent discharge of a firearm

(CNN) Police arrested a 12-year-old girl Thursday after a morning shooting at a Los Angeles middle school left five people injured, including two with significant gunshot wounds, officials said.

The girl, who was not identified because she is a juvenile, faces charges of negligent discharge of a firearm, police spokesman Tony Im said.

A 15-year-old boy was shot in the head but doctors stabilized him, said officials at Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center. A 15-year-old girl who was shot in the wrist was also hospitalized.

Two other students, ages 11 and 12, suffered graze wounds, and a 30-year-old woman suffered a minor injury in the chaos after the shooting, officials said.

The shooting was reported to Los Angeles police at 8:55 a.m. Police didn't say what led to the shooting, and little information was released about the girl who was detained. City schools Police Chief Steven Zipperman said she was 12. She and witnesses were being interviewed, the chief said later.

Read More</s>LOS ANGELES — Two 15-year-old students were shot Thursday morning in a classroom at Sal Castro Middle School in Los Angeles, and a 12-year-old female student is in custody as a suspect, officials said.

One boy was shot in the head and is in critical condition, and a girl was shot in the wrist at the school, which shares a campus with Belmont High School, Los Angeles fire Capt. Eric Scott said.

Three others -- a woman and two children -- were being treated for minor cuts, including some from glass, Scott said.

"Our campus, while it's on lockdown, is safe. There is no more safety threat to the students of this school," city schools Police Chief Steven Zipperman said late Thursday morning.

The shooting was reported to Los Angeles police at 8:55 a.m. Police found and confiscated a gun at the scene, Los Angeles police Lt. Chris Ramirez said.

Police didn't say what led to the shooting, and little information was immediately released about the girl who was detained. Zipperman said she was 12.

The motive is under investigation, Ramirez said. Ramirez and Los Angeles police spokesman Drake Madison both said the girl in custody is a suspect.

Aerial video from CNN affiliates showed police appearing to search students outside the building.

The school day will continue, and students will have the chance to talk to counselors about the shooting, said Vivian Ekchian, interim superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

"The school has been declared safe, and we are communicating with parents of students at Castro Middle School, as well as neighboring campuses," she added.

Sal Castro Middle School is near the city's Westlake district, roughly a couple of miles northwest of downtown.

This is at least the third US school shooting in recent weeks.

On January 23, a student is accused of shooting 16 people -- killing two -- at western Kentucky's Marshall County High School in Benton.

The day before, a 15-year-old student was injured in a shooting in the Texas city of Italy. A suspect, a 16-year-old male, was "apprehended within minutes," city officials said.</s>LOS ANGELES — Two students were injured after a shooting at a California middle school Thursday morning and the suspected shooter is in custody, authorities tell KTLA.

At about 8:55 a.m., the Los Angeles Police Department received a call of shots fired at Sal Castro Middle School in the 1500 block of West Second Street.

Sgt. Edward Bernal with the Los Angeles School Police Department said two students may have been shot in a classroom, and that the victims — a 15-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl — were taken to a local hospital. The boy is in critical condition, while the girl is in fair condition, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The suspect, a female student, is in custody.</s>The Los Angeles police have taken a 12-year-old girl into custody after a shooting in a middle school on Thursday morning left five people injured, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

It is so far unclear what the motive was. The police have recovered the weapon and are questioning the student, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Among the injured are a 15-year-old boy, who was shot in the head. Doctors said the bullet did not cause much harm and the boy is in a stable condition. A 15-year-old girl was shot in the wrist, and is also recovering, CNN reported.

Two other students aged 11 and 12, and a 30-year-old woman suffered a minor wounds in the chaos after the shooting, the police said.

More than 360 students study in the Salvador B Castro Middle School, where the shooting took place, Fox News reported.

Los Angeles police spokesperson Tony Im said the police do not believe the shooting was an accident. “I don’t think you can fire that many rounds and have it be an accident,” he told CNN.

“We do not know yet how a young person ended up having the ability to have access to a firearm and bring it on campus,” Steve Zipperman, chief of the Los Angeles Unified School District police force, said, according to Fox News.</s>Two students have been wounded and a female student is in custody following a shooting in a classroom at a middle school near downtown Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Police Department got a call of shots fired at 8:55 a.m., LAPD Officer Drake Madison told TIME. The shooting occurred at Sal Castro Middle School, which adjacent to Belmont High School. Both schools were locked down, according to NBC 4.

The shooting was in the Westlake District, a heavily populated area just northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

An LAPD spokesman confirmed that they have one suspect, a female student, in custody. The suspect was found with a weapon.

The shooting victims, a boy and girl both 15 years old, were transported to a local hospital. The boy is in critical condition and the girl is in fair condition, according to KTLA.</s>
• A 12-year-old girl is in police custody after a shooting at a Los Angeles middle school.
• There are two 15-year-old gunshot victims, a boy and a girl, and three others with minor injuries from glass, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.



Two 15-year-olds were shot and a 12-year-old girl was taken into custody following an incident at a Los Angeles middle school on Thursday, police said.

The gunshot victims include a boy who was shot in the head and is now in critical but stable condition, and a girl in fair condition who was shot in the wrist, Los Angeles Fire Department officials said at a press conference.

Three other victims between the ages of 11 and 30 received minor abrasions from the shooting, mostly due to glass, the officials added.

Los Angeles School Police Chief Steve Zipperman told reporters that the 12-year-old girl was a "person of interest" in the investigation. The shooting occurred in a mixed-grade classroom at Los Angeles' Sal Castro Middle School.

Shortly after the shooting, a girl could be seen being led away in handcuffs by police in video footage taken by local outlet KTLA, but it was unclear whether she was the person of interest to which police had referred.

The reported location of the shooting was a middle school classroom at the campus shared by Belmont High School and Sal Castro Middle school. The building remains on lockdown, but has been declared safe, Zipperman said.

"We will attend to the needs of these students who witnessed this very carefully, with the understanding that this is very traumatic," Zipperman told media.

Investigators have not yet found a motive for the shooting, nor determined whether it was intentional or merely a "terrible accident," LAPD deputy chief Robert Arcos said.

Zipperman said it's unclear how the suspect allegedly obtained the gun that was recovered from the scene, but added that the "proper prosecutorial procedures will occur" if authorities discover that it came from an adult in her home.

Mike Feuer, the city attorney of Los Angeles, told reporters that Thursday's shooting was a "very important call to action to every adult in our community who has a gun."

"You must store it safely and keep it out of access for any child to reach. It could result in a tragedy," Feuer said. "It could result in a suicide or a homicide or another situation which could easily have been prevented by responsibly, safely storing weapons."

This story is developing. Refresh for updates.</s>Four students were hit by gunfire Thursday morning in a classroom at Sal Castro Middle School in Los Angeles, and a 12-year-old female student is in custody as a suspect, officials said.

One boy was shot in the head and a girl was shot in the wrist at the school, which shares a campus with a high school, Los Angeles fire Capt. Eric Scott said.

The boy was “extremely lucky” in that the bullet missed vital structures, said Dr. Aaron Strumwasser, a trauma surgeon at Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center. The doctor said he expects the boy to recover.

The two other students were grazed by bullets, treated at a hospital and released, he said.

“They did not sustain anything significant,” he said.

All were listed Thursday afternoon in stable condition.

A woman was treated for a minor injury, Scott said earlier.

The shooting was reported to Los Angeles police at 8:55 a.m. Police found and confiscated a gun at the scene, Los Angeles police Lt. Chris Ramirez said Thursday morning. At a second news conference, Ramirez said the weapon was a semiautomatic.

Police didn’t say what led to the shooting, and little information was immediately released about the girl who was detained. Zipperman said she was 12. She is being interviewed, the chief said later.

The shooting happened in an elective class with students from different grades, he said.

A woman who has two sons at the school called her 12-year-old when she heard about the shooting. She told CNN affiliate KABC that she was relieved when he picked up, but he was in tears. She said he was in the classroom right next door to the shooting. The son told her officials had them stay in the classroom and he was worried.

“He’s not doing good,” she told KABC.

She had been unable to reach her other son, who was in physical education class.

The motive for the shooting is under investigation, Ramirez said. Ramirez and Los Angeles police spokesman Drake Madison both said the girl in custody is a suspect.

Aerial video from CNN affiliates showed police appearing to search students outside the building.

The school day will continue, and students will have the chance to talk to counselors about the shooting, said Vivian Ekchian, interim superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

“The school has been declared safe, and we are communicating with parents of students at Castro Middle School, as well as neighboring campuses,” she added.

There will be classes on Friday, she said at the second news conference.

Sal Castro Middle School is in the city’s Westlake district, roughly a couple of miles northwest of downtown.

This is at least the third US school shooting in recent weeks.

On January 23, a student is accused of shooting 16 people — killing two — at western Kentucky’s Marshall County High School in Benton.

The day before, a 15-year-old student was injured in a shooting in the Texas city of Italy. A suspect, a 16-year-old male, was “apprehended within minutes,” city officials said.</s>LOS ANGELES — Police arrested a 12-year-old girl Thursday after a morning shooting at a Los Angeles middle school left five people injured, including two with significant gunshot wounds, officials said.

The girl, who was not identified because she is a juvenile, faces charges of negligent discharge of a firearm, police spokesman Tony Im said.

A 15-year-old boy was shot in the head but doctors stabilized him, said officials at Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center. A 15-year-old girl who was shot in the wrist was also hospitalized.

Two other students, ages 11 and 12, suffered graze wounds, and a 30-year-old woman suffered a minor injury in the chaos after the shooting, officials said.

The shooting was reported to Los Angeles police at 8:55 a.m. Police didn’t say what led to the shooting, and little information was released about the girl who was detained. City schools Police Chief Steven Zipperman said she was 12. She and witnesses were being interviewed, the chief said later.

The shooting happened in an elective class with students from different grades, he said.

Police found and confiscated a gun at the scene, Los Angeles police Lt. Chris Ramirez said Thursday morning. At a second news conference, Ramirez said the weapon was a semiautomatic.

The motive for the shooting is under investigation, Ramirez said.

The boy who was shot in the temple was “extremely lucky” in that the bullet missed vital structures, said Dr. Aaron Strumwasser, a trauma surgeon. Doctors said they expect the boy to recover.

“He came in and was initially awake and alert and answering questions, but his condition did start to deteriorate somewhat … so the staff decided it was best to protect his airway, so he was intubated after arrival, and has been doing very well since that time,” said Dr. Carl Chudnofsky, chief of emergency medicine.

The girl who was shot in the wrist was also still hospitalized

The two other students were grazed, treated and released, Strumwasser said.

“They did not sustain anything significant,” he said.

A woman who has two sons at the school called her 12-year-old when she heard about the shooting. She told CNN affiliate KABC that she was relieved when he picked up, but he was in tears. She said he was in the classroom right next door to the shooting. The son told her officials had them stay in the classroom and he was worried.

“He’s not doing good,” she told KABC.

She had been unable to reach her other son, who was in physical education class.

Aerial video from CNN affiliates showed police appearing to search students outside the building.

The school day continued, and students had the chance to talk to counselors about the shooting, said Vivian Ekchian, interim superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

“The school has been declared safe, and we are communicating with parents of students at Castro Middle School, as well as neighboring campuses,” she added.

There will be classes on Friday, she said at the second news conference.

Sal Castro Middle School is in the city’s Westlake district, a couple of miles northwest of downtown.

This is at least the third US school shooting in recent weeks.

On January 23, a student is accused of shooting 16 people — killing two — at western Kentucky’s Marshall County High School in Benton.

The day before, a 15-year-old student was injured in a shooting in the Texas city of Italy. A suspect, a 16-year-old male, was “apprehended within minutes,” city officials said.</s>LOS ANGELES — A 12-year-old girl was booked on a charge of negligent discharge of a firearm after two students were shot in a Los Angeles middle school classroom on Thursday, police said.

A 15-year-old boy who was shot in the head was in critical condition, and a 15-year-old girl who was shot in the arm was listed as stable, Los Angeles police said Thursday night. Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center said both were expected to make full recoveries.

Three other people — a 30-year-old woman on the staff of Salvador Castro Middle School and two other students, an 11-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl — suffered superficial face and head injuries, police said.

The shots erupted shortly before 9 a.m. (noon ET) at Castro, just west of downtown Los Angeles. A semiautomatic handgun was recovered, authorities said, and the campus was declared safe. Police, who described the shooting as an isolated incident involving negligence, didn't identify the girl who was suspected of having fired the weapon because she is a juvenile.

"We know this a very traumatic incident for all the children involved, particularly inside that classroom," said Steven Zipperman, chief of the Los Angeles school system police department.

"One of the main missions we will have is the issue of finding out how a young person had access to a weapon," Zipperman said. "I assure you, if it came from an adult in a home, that the proper prosecutorial procedure will occur."

The father of a 12-year-old student told NBC Los Angeles that he went to the school after learning about the shooting.

"You can't process it," he said. "It's my son and everybody else's kids in that school."

The incident follows two other school shootings in the United States last week. A 16-year-old boy was charged with opening fire at a Texas high school on Jan. 22, wounding a teenage girl. And a 15-year-old boy was charged with opening fire at a Kentucky high school, killing two students and wounding 18 other people.

Alex Johnson reported from Los Angeles. Daniel Arkin reported from New York.

CORRECTION (Feb 1, 2018, 7:05 p.m. ET): A photo caption on an earlier version of this article misstated the location of the shooting. It was at Salvador Castro Middle School, not Belmont High School. (The schools share a campus.)</s>A young female student allegedly opened fire inside a classroom at a Los Angeles middle school Thursday, leaving four students wounded — including one in critical condition, police said.

The shooting suspect — who police confirmed is 12 years old — allegedly opened fire just before 9 a.m. inside Salvador B. Castro Middle School and was taken into custody. The student was not immediately identified, and a motive remains unclear.

A female student, 15, was shot in the wrist and taken to the hospital in fair condition, and another student, a 15-year-old boy, was hit in the head and transported to a trauma center in critical but stable condition. Officials expect both teens to make a full recovery.

Police initially said three others who were wounded were not injured by the shooting. But two other children were grazed by bullets, and were treated and released.

Gunfire erupted during a first period elective class that included mixed grades in the middle school, which is on the same California campus as Belmont High School, officials said at a press conference Thursday afternoon.

"We do not know yet how a young person ended up having the ability to have access to a firearm and bring it on campus," said Steve Zipperman, chief of the Los Angeles Unified School District police force.

A weapon was recovered at the scene.

Television news footage showed a girl with dark hair and wearing a sweatshirt being led out of the school in handcuffs shortly after the shooting occurred.

Gloria Echeverria was waiting outside a police tape line that prevented people from approaching the school, waiting for news about her 13-year-old son.

"I'm just hoping it has nothing to do with him," she said. "I'm just scared for all the kids — school is supposed to be a safe place for them, and apparently it's not."

Police said the situation was under control and there were no outstanding suspects in the incident. School officials said "a normal school day will continue" despite the lockdown.

"We will attend to the needs of these students who witnessed this very carefully, with the understanding this is very traumatic," Zipperman said.

More than 360 students are enrolled in the Salvador B. Castro Middle School. Los Angeles police said random weapon checks are conducted on the campus, located in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Fox News' Shira Bush and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Two 15-year-old students are seriously wounded and three other people injured in a shooting at Sal Castro Middle School in Los Angeles, California. A 12-year-old female student is taken into custody.