A 12-year-old female was in custody after two teenagers were injured in a middle school shooting, authorities said.
By early afternoon a lockdown at Salvador Castro Middle School and Belmont High School in Los Angeles was lifted, and the immediate task for authorities turned from ensuring the safety of students to trying to determine the cause of the shooting.
A 15-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy were transported to a local trauma centre, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. Authorities said the injuries were not life-threatening. The boy, who was shot in the head, was in stable but critical condition while the girl, who was shot in the wrist, was in fair condition. Three other people — an 11-year-old boy, a 12-year-old girl and a 30-year-old woman — also sustained minor injuries but had not been shot.
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Officials said it was too early to determine a motive or explain how the shooter was able to obtain a gun and bring it onto campus. It was unclear if the suspected shooter had intentionally fired at specific targets or had discharged the weapon accidentally
“As a community we have to examine what is it that would make a child want to come to school with a gun,” interim Los Angeles County Unified Superintendent Vivian Ekchian said.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said one task for investigators would be learning how a gun found its way into the school. City Attorney Mike Feuer said he did not know how the assailant obtained a gun but noted that, in the past, adults have been prosecuted for allowing minors access to firearms.
World news in pictures
World news in pictures
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1/45 31 January 2018
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EPA
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2/45 30 January 2018
A man wears a mask among fellow supporters as Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga (not pictured) takes a symbolic presidential oath of office in Nairobi.
Reuters
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3/45 29 January 2018
Tractors are parked outside a meeting of European Union agriculture ministers during a protest by Belgian farmers in Brussels.
Reuters
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4/45 28 January 2018
Bruno Mars accepts Record of the Year for '24K Magic' with his production team onstage during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Getty Images for NARAS
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5/45 27 January 2018
Students with torches gather prior to a march in celebration of the 165th birth anniversary of Cuba's independence hero Jose Marti, in Havana.
Reuters
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6/45 26 January 2018
A firefighter inspects a burnt hospital after a fire in Miryang, South Korea. 37 people were killed in the fire, with the number of casualties likely to rise further.
Kyungnam Shinmun via Getty
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7/45 25 January 2018
Rescue workers and police officers stand near derailed trains in Pioltello, on the outskirts of Milan.
Reuters
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8/45 24 January 2018
Afghan police officers take position during a blast and gun fire in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
Reuters
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9/45 23 January 2018
Workers clean the beach of the coastal town of Zouk Mosbeh, north of Beirut, as garbage washed up and piled along the shore after stormy weather.
AFP/Getty
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10/45 22 January 2018
A Free Syrian Army soldier takes a selfie as fighters join up with Turkish troops near the Syrian border at Hassa, Hatay province. Turkey shelled Kurdish militia targets in Syria and claimed progress in a cross-border offensive that has stoked concern among its allies and neighbours
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11/45 21 January 2018
Palestinians take part in a protest against aid cut, outside the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) office, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
Reuters
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12/45 20 January 2018
Oscar Janicki, 6, participates in the Second Annual Women's March in Philadelphia.
Reuters
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13/45 19 January 2018
Russian President Vladimir Putin bathes in an ice-cold water on Epiphany near St. Nilus Stolobensky Monastery on Lake Seliger in Svetlitsa village, Russia. Thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers will plunge into icy rivers and ponds across the country to mark Epiphany, cleansing themselves with water deemed holy for the day.
Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP
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14/45 18 January 2018
People protest to call for a new DREAM Act to replace DACA in Los Angeles, California.
Reuters
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15/45 17 January 2018
Pro-democracy activists Raphael Wong and Joshua Wong arrive at Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre after they were jailed on protest related charges following their sentencing at the High Court in Hong Kong.
AFP/Getty
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16/45 16 January 2018
Skyscrapers Oriental Pearl Tower and Jin Mao Tower (L) are seen from the Shanghai World Financial Center on a hazy day in the financial district of Pudong in Shanghai, China.
Reuters
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17/45 15 January 2018
Martin Luther King III, US Secretary of the Interior and others wait to place a wreath during an event at the Martin Luther King Memorial on the National Mall.
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18/45 14 January 2018
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Reuters
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19/45 13 January 2018
Diego Martin Duplessis of Argentina drives his Honda during the 2018 Peru-Bolivia-Argentina Dakar rally, 40th edition stage seven, La Paz to Uyuni.
Reuters
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20/45 12 January 2018
Angela Merkel speaks during a joint press conference after exploratory talks in Berlin. According to reports, the leaders of CDU, CSU and SPD parties after night-long talks agreed on a plan for formal coalition negotiations.
EPA
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21/45 11 January 2018
A Pakistani girl holds a picture of Zainab Ansari, an 8-year-old girl who was raped and kidnapped in Kasur, during a protest in Karachi, Pakistan. Anees Ansari, Zainab's father, accused the police of being slow to respond when his daughter went missing in the eastern Punjab province. Two people were killed and three others were wounded in clashes between angry Kasur residents and police after protesters enraged over her death attacked a police station in the city.
AP
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22/45 10 January 2018
India's Border Security Force (BSF) ‘Daredevils’ women motorcycle riders perform during a rehearsal for the Republic Day parade on a cold winter morning in New Delhi.
Reuters
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23/45 9 January 2018
Members of the South Korea delegation (R) shake hands with members of the North Korean delegation (L) during their meeting at the border truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas. North and South Korea began their first official talks in more than two years, focusing on the forthcoming Winter Olympics after months of tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme.
AFP/Getty
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24/45 8 January 2018
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Reuters
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25/45 7 January 2018
French President Emmanuel Macron observes a minute of silence in front of the plaque commemorating late police officer Ahmed Merabet to mark the third anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack, in Paris.
Rex
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26/45 6 January 2018
Nicolaos Solis from Greece kisses the wooden cross which was thrown into the waters by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, during the Epiphany ceremony to bless the waters at the Golden Horn in Istanbul.
AP
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27/45 5 January 2018
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AFP/Getty
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28/45 4 January 2018
Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Mosab al-Tamimi, 17, who was shot and killed by Israeli troops, during his funeral near the West Bank city of Ramallah .
Reuters
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29/45 3 January 2018
People take part in pro-government rallies, Iran.
Tasnim News Agency via Reuters
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30/45 2 January 2018
Indonesian bus passengers watch as Mount Sinabung spews thick smoke in Karo, North Sumatra.
AFP/Getty
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31/45 1 January 2018
People take part in the traditional New Year's Day swim in Scheveningen, Netherlands.
Rex
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32/45 31 December 2017
Fireworks explode over Sydney Harbour during New Year's Eve celebrations.
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33/45 30 December 2017
An Indian muslim lifts a stool with a metal rod pierced through his cheeks to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Rafai Papa Miyan Sai at the Shah-E-Alam Dargah shrine in Ahmedabad.
AFP/Getty
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34/45 29 December 2017
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35/45 28 December 2017
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36/45 27 December 2017
Pope Francis greets newlyweds during his weekly general audience at Aula Paolo VI in The Vatican.
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37/45 26 December 2017
Rohingya refugees walk next to a pond in the early morning at the Balukhali refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
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38/45 25 December 2017
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39/45 24 December 2017
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40/45 23 December 2017
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41/45 22 December 2017
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42/45 21 December 2017
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43/45 20 December 2017
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44/45 19 December 2017
South Korean and U.S. Marines take part in a winter military drill in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
REUTERS
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45/45 18 December 2017
Belgian police officers stand guard outside the trial of Salah Abdeslam, one of the suspects in the 2015 Islamic State attacks in Paris, at a courthouse in Brussels, Belgium.
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“This is a very important call to action to every adult in our community,” Mr Feuer said, point to laws mandating safe gun storage
After arriving on the scene authorities were able to take the suspect into custody “without further incident”, Los Angeles Police Department Lt Chris Ramirez said, and recovered a semiautomatic weapon.
As the day unfolded, distraught parents gathered at a softball field to try and learn more about what had happened. Footage from the scene showed police vehicles surrounding the school's campus and young people being led out of classrooms by authorities.
Kentucky school shooting at Marshall County High
“We know this is a very traumatic incident for all the children involved particularly inside that classroom,” Steve Zipperman of the Los Angeles School Police Department said, adding that mental health professionals would be available to help.
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