Santee,
California -- A ninth grade
student described as "...a kid that was picked on a lot..." killed two fellow students and
wounded at least 13 others at Santana High School. "School
Shooting Map"
A
distraught mother tries to locate her children at
Santana High School after a shooting there took the
lives of 2 students, wounded 13 others and brought
chaos to the campus and community.
SANTEE - March 5, 2001, Santee, California. A ninth grade
student described as "...a kid that was picked on a lot...(see
Bullying training,
articlesand FREE
Handouts)" killed two fellow students and
wounded at least 13 others at Santana High School. Two of the victims
apparently were a Santana High School security guard and a counselor,
according to KGTV. The extent of their injuries was not known. University of
California, San Diego, Medical Center confirmed one victim had been brought
in for treatment, and another was possibly on the way. Children's Hospital
said it expected to receive victims from the incident. Students were
evacuated to parking lots and nearby businesses (see
Developing
Crisis Plans). A SWAT team was called in to assess
and clear the scene. A suspect, a student, is in custody.
One Santana student told KGTV the suspect was smiling as he fired shots
from the boys restroom. "When he came back out of the bathroom, he was
smiling. He was looking around and smiling with his weapon. And he fired two
more shots and went back in," said John Sharp, a student. At least
three students have reported that the shooter told them that he was going to
do this (See Early
Warning Sign Assessment Training ). One
student spent the weekend with the shooter and heard him talk about the
shooting but did not believe he would do it. Another student reported that
she was afraid something like this was going to happen for a long time
because of the racial tension (See
School
Violence Readiness Training)
Chaos ensued during and after the shooting as students were first told to
run or get into the hallways then later told to go their classrooms. Local
businesses and churches were pressed into service to handle students and
parents, but as one parent reported, "They just don't have a system to
handle this." The local television station periodically broadcast
student names, instructing them where to meet their parents as parents would
contact station personnel for help.
Santana High School has 1,900 students in grades 9 through 12.(See
theLockOutViolenceEverydayCampaign
- A community violence prevention program).
UPDATE
Those killed were a 14-year-old and 15-year-old student. The wounded
students ranged in age from 14 to 18.
The conditions of the wounded students have not been released. The two
adult shooting victims were identified as a student teacher and a young
security supervisor at the school. The security supervisor was identified by
a relative as Peter Ruiz. The relative said that Ruiz had been shot five
times, but he is expected to recover from his wounds