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U.S. NEWS Friday 8 december 2017

Students hid in classrooms during shooting that left 3 dead

AZTEC, N.M. (AP) — Stu-
dents hid in their class-
rooms, some behind
locked doors, as a suspect
opened fire Thursday inside
a New Mexico high school,
killing two classmates be-
fore ending up dead.
Authorities and other of-
ficials in the small town of
Aztec near the Colorado
border have released few
details other than to say
the shooter and the two
victims all attended Aztec
High School. No other inju-
ries were reported, and it
was not clear if the shoot-
er died by suicide or was
killed by police.
Local and federal authori-
ties are investigating what
led to the shooting and did
not immediately release
any details about the cir- Police escort buses moving students and faculty from Aztec High School after a shooting Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017, in Aztec, N.M.
cumstances. A news con- (Jon Austria /The Daily Times via AP)
ference was planned later always locks the door no shooter approaching. said there were no other media, while members of
Thursday. matter what. So he kept The school of about 900 credible threats to students the New Mexico congres-
Sophomore Garrett Parker that locked,” Parker said. students was cordoned off at the high school or other sional delegation, state
told Albuquerque televi- “When they called over as authorities cleared the schools in the neighboring Attorney General Hector
sion station KOAT that he the intercom that it was campus and teens were communities of Bloomfield Balderas and other elect-
was upstairs in history class not a drill, we went to the taken to another location or Farmington. ed officials offered their
when he heard what he ini- corner of the room out of where they could be re- Aztec is a rural commu- condolences and other as-
tially thought was students sight from the door and just united with their parents. nity of 6,500 people in sistance. “While details are
banging on lockers. started hiding.” A crowd of nervous parents the heart of northwestern still coming in, we grieve for
As the noise got louder Parker said it felt like a initially gathered outside New Mexico’s oil and gas the innocent victims in this
and closer, school officials dream. Some parents re- City Hall to wait for more country and near the Na- senseless act of violence.
issued a warning over the ported hearing from their information as officers tried vajo Nation. Its main street Too many lives have been
loud speaker. children via text messages to reassure them about the is lined by old brick build- disrupted and too many
“Thankfully our teacher that they could hear the safety of their children. ings that date back more futures cut short,” U.S. Rep.
All schools in town closed than a century. Residents Ben Ray Lujan said on
Man who bilked $100M from for the day, but authorities voiced disbelief on social Twitter.q

investors flees California prison

SEATTLE (AP) — Authorities tenced to 18 years in af-
say a Washington state ter pleading guilty to wire
man who bilked investors fraud, money laundering
out of more than $100 mil- and bankruptcy fraud.
lion in a Ponzi scheme has Prosecutors have that Berg
escaped from a federal used investor funds from his
prison in central California. company, Meridian Group,
According to The Seattle to buy Lear jets, yachts and
Times, prison officials say million-dollar homes.
55-year-old Frederick Berg They said he used more
was discovered missing than $100 million from over
Wednesday from a mini- 800 investors to keep his
mum-security work camp investment fraud scheme
next to a penitentiary in At- going.
water, California. Berg was arrested in 2010 in
Berg in 2012 was sen- Los Angeles.q