At least four people in the US state of California have been killed and 10 others injured after a gunman opened fire at multiple locations, including near an elementary school, before being shot dead by police. A shooter, believed to be armed with a semi-automatic rifle and two handguns, opened fire in multiple locations in Tehama County, northern California, shortly after 8am local time (16:00 GMT) on Wednesday, according to the local sherriff’s office.
“We have multiple shots fired in Rancho Tehama. That evolved to multiple victims,” Undersheriff Phil Johnston, of the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office, told reporters. Johnston said the suspected shooter was shot and killed by police. People who were injured were taken to various hospitals in the area, local newspaper The Redding Record Searchlight reported. Rancho Tehama is a small town about 200km northwest of Sacramento.
Johnston said the shooting began as a “domestic violence incident”, according to the local NBC News affiliate. “We are aware that there was a domestic violence incident as reported by neighbours involving the suspected shooter,” he said. Police, however, said the motive was not immediately known. The identity of the shooter has not yet been released. At least two children were wounded and a number of students from a local school were airlifted to hospital, NBC News reported. California Governor Jerry Brown said he and his wife, Anne, were “saddened to hear about today’s violence in Tehama County, which shockingly involved schoolchildren”. “We offer our condolences to the families who lost loved ones and unite with all Californians in grief,” Brown said in a statement.
Johnston said at least 100 law enforcement personnel were investigating at least seven crime scenes, according to local media. A local elementary school and the Rancho Tehama Airport were also put on lockdown, The Redding Record Searchlight reported.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS
