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U.S. NEWS Saturday 12 May 2018
Chaos after multiple shooting reports; 1 student wounded

By KRYSTA FAURIA and MI- the hospital to virtually shut outside the school crying
CHAEL BALSAMO down the operating and as investigators remained
Associated Press emergency rooms for an on campus.
PALMDALE, Calif. (AP) — onslaught of victims. Student Pualani Revis told
A 14-year-old boy used a “Everyone from the blood KABC-TV that students ran
rifle to shoot a former class- bank to the lab to radiol- into her classroom saying
mate in the arm Friday at ogy to everyone ... it was there were gunshots going
their California high school maybe 100 people down- off.
and dumped the gun in a stairs waiting for the arrival “We barricaded the room,”
field before he was caught of all of these injured chil- she said. “We went to the
in a shopping center, au- dren,” he said. “Thankfully back of it to make sure we
thorities said. we only had one child that were safe.”
Reports of the shooting and was shot.” Johnny Lewis, whose
an ultimately false report of He said the boy had sur- 17-year-old son is a stu-
another attack at a nearby gery and was expected to dent at the school, told The
elementary school sparked be fine. Los Angeles Times that he
chaos, terrifying parents McDonnell said the raced to the campus with
and drawing a massive 14-year-old suspect had his wife after hearing re-
police response in the high fired multiple gunshots in a ports about the shooting.
desert city of Palmdale in courtyard but did not elab- “We didn’t know at that
Southern California. orate on whether the teen time if our son was in dan-
Police descended on High- was aiming for anyone in ger, injured or shot or what,”
land High School after doz- particular. he said. “It’s just ridiculous
ens of 911 calls and some “Those shots, in some cas- with all the guns in schools. Students are reunited with family members outside Highland
reports that there were es, went into an area ad- I never knew it would hap- High School in Palmdale as Sheriff took the school off lockdown
on Friday, May 11, 2018.
hostages in the campus li- jacent to the courtyard pen to us here.”q Associated Press
brary, Los Angeles County where they were being
Sheriff Jim McDonnell said. fired from, so the potential
As officers swarmed the li- was for anyone to be able
brary, more 911 calls came to take a stray round there,
in reporting that gunshots whether they were aimed
were heard at an elemen- at or not,” McDonnell said.
tary school across town. “So a very dangerous situa-
Dozens of officers with sev- tion.” The teen was caught
eral agencies blanketed about an hour later at a
both campuses looking for shopping center after the
possible shooters and vic- boy called his father to say
tims. Meanwhile Antelope he fired his gun in the air
Valley Hospital was told and was headed to a gro-
several people were dead cery store near campus,
and as many as 25 students McDonnell said.
were injured, said Dr. Pavel He said the teen’s father
Petrik, the trauma center’s called a family friend who’s
chief of surgery. an off-duty police officer
In the end, there was just and told him where the
one shooting and one boy was.
victim, at Highland High The off-duty officer, who
School, about 40 miles (64 works for Los Angeles po-
kilometers) northeast of Los lice, then detained the
Angeles. teen without incident. He
Los Angeles County depu- was being held on suspi-
ties detained a 14-year- cion of attempted murder.
old former Highland High It’s unclear where he got
School student in the shoot- the rifle.
ing of a 15-year-old boy, McDonnell said the boy’s
who was hit in the arm. mother had called the of-
The shooting was sparked ficer earlier in the morning
by a dispute between the to tell him she and her hus-
two students, said Capt. band were having trouble
Darren Harris with the sher- with him and that the teen
iff’s department. had run away.
“We were very fortunate The parents recently trans-
that the incident wasn’t ferred the boy from High-
much worse than it was,” land High School though it
McDonnell said at a news was unclear why.
conference. “The outcome The shooting was sparked
was much better than any- by a dispute between the
body could have antici- two students, sheriff’s Capt.
pated.” Darren Harris said earlier
Dr. Petrik said the reports in the day. McDonnell de-
of multiple casualties and clined to elaborate.
dozens of injuries caused Parents and students were