UPDATE: According to authorities, the Saugus High School shooting suspect is “no longer a threat.” After carrying out the attack, the suspect fled and was temporarily on the loose. After the shooting rampage, the suspect was eventually found and taken into custody at a local hospital, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva. Two of the shooting victims has died, authorities have reported, and three others remain hospitalized.
The shooter, who is just 16 years old, is listed in grave condition after a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
The suspect was one of the six injured students who was found on the quad of the high school. He carried out the shooting on his birthday. The suspect pulled out a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol and shot five victims before turning the gun on himself. The weapon “had no more rounds in it” when it was recovered.
Authorities are responding to a reported school shooting at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California. According to early reports from the local NBC News affiliate, the Los Angeles County Fire Department is reporting at least three victims and as many as six.
The victims were transported to the hospital on gurneys.
At least two of the victims in the shooting are in critical condition and three additional victims are on the way to nearby Henry Mayo hospital, according to reports. The nature of the injuries has not been revealed.
The suspected shooter is allegedly an Asian male who was dressed in all-black clothing. The suspected shooter — who is believed to be a younger student at the school, according to Sheriff Alex Villanueva — remains on the loose and was last seen retreating up a hill towards a nearby elementary school.
According to Andrea Mitchell of NBC News, the suspect is 15 years old.
Multiple schools in the area have been placed on lockdown as a preventive measure. Saugus High School is approximately 35 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.
“There is an active shooter at Saugus High School,” said a deputy with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station. “We’re on the scene and handling it.”
Sgt. Bob Boese of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department added: “We have multiple victims down. Our deputies are doing a systematic search of the campus, trying to locate the suspect.”
Videos from the scene show students being escorted out of the building with their hands raised.
Below is information on how parents can reunite with their children:
California Senator Kamala Harris responded to the mass shooting on social media.
“Heartbroken and praying for Santa Clarita. I’m incredibly grateful to the first responders who are on the scene of this active situation. If you are near the area, please listen to law enforcement. Our children and communities are being terrorized,” Harris wrote on Twitter. “We can’t accept this.”
Another California politician, Representative Katie Porter, also chimed in.
“My heart breaks for our neighbors in Santa Clarita and our children, who have to grow up in a world where they can’t go to school without fear. This. Must. End. It is past time for our Senate and our President to say #EnoughIsEnough,” she wrote.” They can start by passing H.R.8 into law.”