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High school shooting kills 2
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A GRINNING teenage gunman opened fire on fellow students at a high school where he was often taunted on Monday, killing two and injuring 13 others in the latest act of violence to terrorize an American school.
Real gun shot
The shooting , which occurred at 9.22 am, Pacific Standard Time on Monday at Santana High School in the suburb northeast of San Diego, first created scenes of disbelief as students thought a cap gun was going off and then scenes of mass panic when they realized it was a real gun and started fleeing for their lives.
It was the worst act of violence at an American school since the April 20, 1999 attack by two teenage gunmen at Columbine High School in Colorado in which 15 people were killed and it threw this San Diego suburb of 58,000 into shock and panic.
The shooting was the latest of more than a dozen incidents of gun violence to have claimed casualties in American schools in recent years, including multiple killings in Oregon, Arkansas, and Kentucky, as well as Colorado.
Police said the suspect -- a high school freshman treated like a weakling by some of his classmates because of his small frame and scrawny looks --- used a .22 calibre revolver, which he reloaded once after emptying its chambers to shoot people at random in a hallway and boys' bathroom of Santana High School.
At first the students at the 1,900-pupil school thought a cap pistol was going off. But as students fell bleeding, they realized it was a gun and they started fleeing the school in droves.
As they were run one way screaming, San Diego County Sheriff's Deputy Ali Perez and three other officers headed the other way -- where they cornered the unidentified teenage gunman in a boys' restroom. He gave up without incident.
'It's only me.'
``When we found him, he was inside the bathroom in a kneeling position with his hands out (holding) the butt of the gun. He dropped it and surrendered,'' Perez told reporters.
Then when the boy heard that police were searching for a possible second suspect, Perez said, ``He looked up from the bathroom floor and said 'It's only me.'''
Off-duty San Diego police officer Robert Clark, who was at the school to register his daughter, took part in the arrest and said he found two shot students in the stalls of the bathroom -- one who was conscious and speaking and the other ''unresponsive''.
Police said two of the shooting victims were killed. They were identified as Brian Zuckor, 14, and Randy Gordon, 15. One student reportedly died at the scene of the attack. The other died later at a local hospital.
Police said they were still investigating and would not comment. Although they said the youth would be charged as an adult with murder, they declined to reveal his name.
Motives unknown
San Diego County Sheriff William Kolender said, ``We do not know the motivation. We do not know the motive at this point.''
President George W Bush decried the shooting as ``a disgraceful act of cowardice'', while Calif Gov Gray Davis and his wife Sharon expressed sorrow and horror over the attack -- noting that Santana High School was Sharon Davis' alma mater.
San Diego County District Attorney Paul Pfingst said that the boy would be arraigned on Wednesday and would face charges in adult court thanks to California's Prop 21, a youth crime initiative voters passed last year. It mandates adult trials for juveniles 14 or older charged with murder or specified sex crimes.
(SD-Agencies)
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