4 Gunshot Victims At San Bernardino Elementary School Shooting, Believed To Be Murder-Suicide [Updated]


Multiple gunshot victims have been reported on Monday morning at an elementary school shooting in San Bernardino. According to Los Angeles Times, police believe the San Bernardino elementary school shooting may have been a murder-suicide.

It was just before 11 a.m. at North Park Elementary School at the 5300 block of North H Street in San Bernardino, California, that the shooting was reported, the San Bernardino County Fire officials have noted.

It was at 10:45 a.m. that the San Bernardino County Fire confirmed there were multiple victims in the San Bernardino elementary school shooting. They did not, however, provide an exact count at the time.

The students at Cal State University San Bernardino were also asked to seek shelter until further notice amid reports of an active shooter on the elementary school campus. According to KTLA, the college campus is just a few blocks away from the elementary where the shooting took place.

KTLA also noted the San Bernardino Police Department Chief said the students at North Park Elementary School were transported to Cajon High School “for safety.”

Both North Park, Cajon Elementary School and Hillside Elementary School were placed under lockdown, according to the San Bernardino City Unified School District.

10:56 a.m.: Jarrod Burguan confirmed there were four total victims in the shooting.

11:32 a.m.: Jarrod Burguan confirmed two adults were deceased in the classroom in what was believed to be a murder-suicide. He also confirmed the suspect was believed to be down at this time and he did not think there were any additional threats.

11:33 a.m.: Jarrod Burguan tweeted that two shooting victims who were likely students were transported to the hospital. Their condition, however, is unknown at this time.

11:39 a.m.: Jarrod Burguan tweeted that police are continuing to make efforts to secure the area. However, it is believed that there is no longer a threat to anyone in the area.

Updated 4/11/17:

According to CNN, the shooter was the estranged husband of Karen Elaine Smith, a 53-year-old special needs teacher. One of the two students who were injured during the murder-suicide shooting later passed away at the hospital.

Police Chief Jarrod Burguan revealed Cedric Anderson, the 53-year-old shooter – walked into the classroom holding a large caliber and opened fire “without saying anything.”

The two students that were victims of the shooting were struck because they were standing behind Smith at the time. Eight-year-old Jonathan Martinez passed away after being airlifted to the hospital from the school. The other student, an unnamed nine-year-old boy, has been listed in stable condition.

San Bernardino police do not believe the children were targets of the shooting – they just happened to be standing near the teacher when the shooter opened fire. According to Burguan, there were a total of 15 students between the grades of one to four as well as two adult aides in the classroom at the time of the shooting.

Police believe the shooting occurred just before 10:30 a.m. and they responded within minutes of it being reported. Anderson is believed to have entered the classroom simply to visit his wife. As Smith’s husband, he was known and recognized by the office staff. There was also no indication that the suspect was carrying a handgun when he entered the school. Anderson did sign in at the front office before making his way to her classroom.

“He came in, and very, very quickly upon entering the classroom started shooting.”

Anderson informed he office staff he was dropping something off with his wife, which was fairly common for spouses of teachers at the school to do from time to time. For this reason, no one thought anything was awry.

“I’m told that their marriage was relatively short. They’ve only been married for a few months and they’ve been separated for about the last month, month-and-a-half, roughly, when this incident took place. But there’s nobody that in the investigation has come forward to say that they saw this coming.”

The police chief does not believe anyone saw this coming – or at least no one is willing to come forward and admit to such.

According to the police, Anderson did have a criminal history.

[Featured Image by shutter_o/ShutterStock]

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