Santa Clarita School Shooting: Gunman Dies of Self-Inflicted Wound
The gunman who murdered two students at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, Calif. on Thursday died Friday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound sustained after the deadly rampage.
According to the L.A. County Sheriff, Nathaniel Berhow carried out the campus attack on his 16th birthday. The two fatalities were a 15-year-old female and a 14-year-old male. Several other injured remain hospitalized.
No motive has been released. The shooting is under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to trace the origins of the handgun used in the attack.
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According to CNN, the shooting happened about 20 minutes before the start of school in Santa Clarita, a suburban area located about 35 miles north of Los Angeles, and prompted many students to flee the building while others took cover inside classrooms in the school. Police responded immediately to the call around 7:30 a.m. of a shooting incident on campus and arrived within two minutes, according to local authorities. The suspect pulled a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol out of a backpack and began firing the weapon at students before shooting himself in the head, L.A. County Sheriff Capt. Kent Wegener said during a press conference following the horrific events. Authorities at the press conference said the suspect is a resident of the Santa Clarita Valley and his family home is currently being searched for evidence related to the shooting.
As the events were unfolding, veteran entertainment writer Anthony Breznican tweeted about the horror of going to retrieve his daughter from a nearby Santa Clarita elementary school placed under lockdown following the shooting. He also criticized the National Rifle Association and what he described as a “pervasive and reckless gun culture.”
“GOD DAMN the NRA and every gun-owner in this country who thinks their hobby is worth this endless nightmare. You drop your kid off in a pilgrim outfit for their Thanksgiving pageant. You never know if you’ll see them again. Could be any day. Any place,” Breznican wrote.
Breznican, a film writer who joined Vanity Fair this year after years at Entertainment Weekly, also described how school shootings were the new “normal” for children and said that threats have become frequent enough in his town that “most parents stopped noticing.”
“Like kids everywhere, my little ones grew up playing ‘games’ meant to mask shooting drill practice. For pre-schoolers it was called ‘Rabbit in the Hole.’ Can all the kids fit in a closet and stay very, very quiet? As they got older, they realized the truth,” he wrote.
School shooting in my town. In my neighborhood
Helicopters nearing. Sirens screaming.
— Anthony Breznican (@Breznican) November 14, 2019
Just dropped my kids at elementary school. Now getting them.
Parents are running back, sobbing in lobby. All coming back to get their children. “We will be safer at home.”
Thank you for this hellscape @NRA. Thank you for this endless misery and bloodshed.
— Anthony Breznican (@Breznican) November 14, 2019
GOD DAMN the NRA and every gun-owner in this country who thinks their hobby is worth this endless nightmare.
You drop your kid off in a pilgrim outfit for their Thanksgiving pageant. You never know if you’ll see them again.
Could be any day. Any place.
— Anthony Breznican (@Breznican) November 14, 2019
In lobby of my school, parents aren’t sure whether to pull their kids or not. No one wants to scare them, but the parents are scared.
Everyone on phones, networking news from friends about Saugus shooting nearby. Teachers/secretaries trying to stay calm, but they are stricken.
— Anthony Breznican (@Breznican) November 14, 2019
And lockdown announcement just went through school.
— Anthony Breznican (@Breznican) November 14, 2019
The fear at our school is that an idiot weekend warrior will show up with his AR-15 to “protect” it.
We have so many of those wannabe cowboy Call of Duty fantasy role-play weirdos in our community.
Every shooting, they SAY they’ll do this
For real. This is the world we’re in.
— Anthony Breznican (@Breznican) November 14, 2019
Taking my kids out. Bringing some parents and kids to our house.
Everyone trying to lie to the little ones about what’s happening. I just said “Early release today!”
No one says “shooting.”
One 6 year old said to another “Venom in the school.”
Saugus Shooting
— Anthony Breznican (@Breznican) November 14, 2019
Waiting for my daughter, then getting out. An avalanche of parents are pouring in.
Hearing all sorts of terrifying, unconfirmed reports via the parents. Won’t share because who knows for sure.
Feels like a bad dream.
— Anthony Breznican (@Breznican) November 14, 2019
Kids leaving are crying now. They know.
— Anthony Breznican (@Breznican) November 14, 2019
Got my daughter. She’s 10, dressed in black and white pilgrim outfit.
Very quiet. I asked what she knew, what they told them. “Someone st Saugus high … hurt kids.”
Barely a whisper. Then she cried.
— Anthony Breznican (@Breznican) November 14, 2019
We are home. Can still hear choppers overhead.
Got some other kids with us, and trying to keep things normal for them.
I guess this is normal now
— Anthony Breznican (@Breznican) November 14, 2019
Let me tell you about my town, Santa Clarita. Site of the most recent American #schoolshooting.
The kids are upstairs, safe. Playing with their friends. The town is grieving.
Our family has lived here for six years. In that time, many, man people here saw this coming.
1/
— Anthony Breznican (@Breznican) November 14, 2019
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Read original story Santa Clarita School Shooting: Gunman Dies of Self-Inflicted Wound At TheWrap
