A student at a Santa Rosa, Calif., high school is in custody after allegedly shooting a classmate just before entering the school.
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports that the 16-year-old boy who was shot outside Ridgway High School Tuesday morning was struck twice in his upper body; he was driven to a nearby hospital by a friend and was reported to be in stable condition. He is expected to survive, police say.
The alleged shooter, 17, was booked into Sonoma County’s juvenile hall on suspicion of attempted murder.
The shooting resulted in 2½-hour lockdown affecting thousands of students at three campuses that ended after police pulled the suspect from class.
The incident was reported to police just before 9 a.m., bringing a swarm of officers and SWAT personnel to the Ridgway campus, which is behind Santa Rosa High. Nearby Santa Rosa Junior College, along with the two high schools, was locked down during the incident.
Through witness statements and video surveillance taken from the school, which captured a brief shouting match between two boys and the subsequent gunfire, officers determined the 17-year-old suspect had stashed a handgun in a backpack and then put the pouch inside a car that left the area.
The suspect was seen walking into a nearby gym class after the shooting and officers, believing he was no longer armed, worked with school officials to safely detain and arrest him.
Hours after the shooting, police had not yet established a motive.
