Students in Southern California are unpacking the terror that unfolded at their high school Thursday morning when a gunman killed two classmates and injured three others.
At 7:38 a.m. local time, law enforcement received a call reporting an assault with a deadly weapon at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California. By the time authorities arrived just two minutes later, six students were found suffering from gunshot wounds in the school's quad area, said Captain Ken Wegener of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Homicide Bureau in a press conference several hours after the shooting.
A 16-year-old female and a 14-year-old male later died from their injuries.
Ember Miller, a senior at the school, spoke to Cheddar and said that after students "take a deep breath … I think it's really important to take this anger and channel this into action. We aren't targets. I shouldn't go to school and be scared for my life."
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said there is video "clearly showing the subject in the quad withdraw a handgun from his backpack, shoot, and wound five people and shoot himself in the head."
The suspect, a 16-year-old male student at the school is in critical condition. Officials say today is his birthday.
Law enforcement discovered a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol emptied of rounds at the scene.
Authorities and the FBI are working to preserve and capture any cell phone video students may have captured of the shooting, Villanueva said.
Officers said they were talking to the victim's girlfriend and mother.
