At
least 10 other people were wounded, including two children at an
elementary school near the small town of Corning, about 100
miles (160 km) north of Sacramento, where the suspect was slain,
according to police and local media.
"Deeply saddened to hear of the shooting in Northern California,
the loss of life, including innocent children," Vice President
Mike Pence said on Twitter. "We commend the effort of courageous
law enforcement. We'll continue to monitor the situation &
provide federal support, as we pray for comfort & healing for
all impacted."
Shots were fired at Rancho Tehama Elementary school where some
people were injured there but no students or staff members died,
Corning Union Elementary School District administrative
assistant Jeanine Quist said.
Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston said at a news
conference that the shooter, who he did not name, had been armed
with a semi-automatic rifle and two handguns.
The Sacramento Bee newspaper, citing multiple law enforcement
officials, later identified the suspect as 43-year-old Kevin
Janson Neal, a local resident who had been arrested in February
in connection with a stabbing.
Johnston did not give a motive for the shooting rampage. The
local Redding Record Searchlight newspaper reported that it
began when the gunman opened fire at a home and some six other
locations shortly after 8 a.m. PST.
A parent, Coy Ferreira, said he was dropping off his daughter at
the elementary school when he heard gunfire.
"One of the teachers came running out of the building and told
us to all run inside because there was a shooter coming,"
Ferreira told Redding, California, television station KRCR.
Ferreira said he heard gunfire for over 20 minutes and that a
student in the room was struck.
Area resident Brian Flint told local media his neighbor was the
shooter and had stolen his truck.
Enloe Medical Center in Chico, some 40 miles away, received five
patients, three of whom were treated and released, hospital
spokeswoman Natali Munoz-Moore said.
St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in the community of Red Bluff
received two patients, including one who was stabilized and
transferred to another facility, spokeswoman Amanda Harter said.
Mercy Medical Center in Redding received three patients,
including one who also was transferred elsewhere, Harter said.
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Additional reporting
by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles and Peter Szekely and Daniel
Wallis in New York; Editing by Phil Berlowitz and Lisa Shumaker)
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