LA Jr. High Shooting: Girl Claims Gun Went Off In Her Backpack

LOS ANGELES, CA — A 12-year-old girl was arrested Thursday in the shooting of two classmates at Salvador Castro Middle School in Los Angeles. Among them, a 15-year-old boy was shot in the head and hospitalized in stable condition. The girl's friends told reporters the girl had the loaded gun in her backpack, and it went off when the girl plunked down the backpack.

In all, two teens were shot, and five people were injured Thursday morning inside a classroom at the middle school, which shares a campus in the Westlake district with Belmont High School. The scene sent thousands of families into a panic until the schools were declared safe shortly after 10 a.m. City leaders were left questioning how a child got hold of a gun. The Los Angeles city attorney called the tragedy a wake-up calls for families that are careless about locking up their firearms.

"The shooting did happen at the middle school. A female juvenile has been detained as a possible suspect," said Los Angeles Police Officer Wendy Reyes. "We are not looking for any additional suspects at this time."

Broadcast footage from the scene shows police escorting a jeans-clad teenage girl away in handcuffs. Wearing a blue sweatshirt and long dark hair, she hid her face from media at the scene. Early reports indicated the girl was 15 years old, but Los Angeles School Police Department Chief Steve Zipperman later said she is believed to be 12 years old.

"The juvenile suspect in this case has been booked and transported to the Los Angeles County Central Juvenile Hall," Officer Tony Im of the LAPD's Media Relations section said. "The juvenile suspect has been booked for negligent discharge of a firearm."

Friends of the girl were quoted in news reports as saying she repeatedly claimed she didn't mean to shoot the victims and that the gun went off when she dropped her backpack.

Officials at Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center said both students are expected to make full recoveries. Dr. Aaron Strumwasser, who treated the teens, said the boy who was struck in the head was "extremely lucky."

"The trajectory of the bullet did not hit any vital structures that were an immediate threat to life," Strumwasser said. "So I think he will do fine."

Zipperman confirmed that the shooting occurred inside a classroom, but it was unclear what prompted the gunfire or how the gun wound up on the campus. Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Robert Arcos said "it is still too early" to understand a motive for the shooting or how a student obtained a weapon.

Zipperman said authorities' initial focus will be caring for students who may have witnessed the shooting.

"We know this is a very traumatic incident for all the children involved, particularly inside that classroom," he said. "As we continue to move forward with this, I want everyone to have a clear understanding that we will attend to the needs of these students who witnessed this very carefully, with the understanding this is very traumatic.

"We have our school mental health folks who are here to support the needs of the students and we will continue to work with those students," he said.

Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics treated two teenage gunshot victims and one injured adult.

According to the Los Angeles fire Department, a 15-year-old boy was transported to a local trauma center in critical condition after being shot in the head. A 15-year-old girl was shot in the wrist, and she is in fair condition, according to paramedics. A Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department said three other victims -- an 11-year-old boy, a 12-year-old girl and the 30- year-old woman -- "had minor abrasions to the face area, some from glass," Scott said.

The shooting occurred at 8:55 a.m. Thursday at 1500 block of West 2nd Street, said Madison. The two schools share a campus.

Arriving officers "located a few victims and they also located the suspect, who they took into custody without further incident," Los Angeles police Lt. Chris Ramirez said. "A gun was recovered at (the) scene."

"We're unclear whether a gun went off or if it was an intentional shooting," Mayor Eric Garcetti told ABC7.

"We need to find out how did that gun get into the school," Garcetti told the station. But he stressed that the mental well-being of other students on campus is addressed.

"We have a lot of people from the mayor's Crisis Response Team as well as counselors from the school district to help these young people deal with the situation to make sure there's not further trauma to them from what happened," he said.

Shortly before midday, LAUSD Interim Superintendent Vivian Ekchian said classes would continue for the rest of the day at both Castro Middle School and Belmont High School, with counselors provided in classrooms. She assured parents that there was no remaining danger on the campus, but the shooting "will be carefully investigated."

"We could not control or know about this situation, but our schools are safe," she said.

The district set up an information hotline for parents at (213) 241-1000.

Zipperman declined to provide specifics about security measures that are in place at the Castro Middle School campus or if students go through metal detectors or are routinely searched. He said tersely that every secondary school in the district has "policies and procedures" in place to protect students.

Zimmerman expressed frustration, however, at the ability of a student to obtain a weapon.

"We do not know yet ... how a young person on this campus ended having the ability to have access to a firearm and bring it onto a campus," the chief said. "Or for that matter, any young person having access to a weapon and bringing it anywhere. We have laws that mandate that parents who own guns, any adult who owns guns, any gun owner has an obligation to ensure that gun is locked inside a home. ... The majority of the weapons that our young people get their hands on today is the result of a weapon they get at home or from a family members' home.

"... I assure you if we find out it came from an adult from a home, the proper prosecutorial procedures will occur," Zipperman said.

Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer echoed that frustration, and said Thursday's shooting should be a "call to action" for gun owners to ensure weapons are kept away from children.

"Throughout our city, you have seen our office again and again prosecute adults when children get access to guns that haven't been safely stored, including times when children bring a gun to school or to another public location," Feuer said. "There is no reason for that ever to happen. This is a very important call to action to every adult in our community who has a gun. You must store it safely and keep it out of access for any child to reach. It could result in a tragedy. It could result in a suicide or a homicide or another situation which could easily have been prevented by responsibly, safely storing weapons."

Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis said she was "horrified" to hear of the shooting.

"Our schools should be safe spaces for our children to grow, learn and play," she said. "Today, this innocence was ripped from them as a result of a minor who had access to a gun. This needs to stop. We have seen this story again and again, and it is only getting worse: according to the Gun Violence Archive, Americans have suffered through 22 mass shooting incidents 31 days into this new year. Today would be the 23rd.

"Once again, I call upon our federal representatives to implement responsible gun safety laws that protect people instead of putting them in danger. No parent should ever have to fear sending their child to school. It's far past time for Congress to pass responsible gun safety laws."

THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY. PLEASE REFRESH THE SCREEN FOR UPDATES. Image: Google Maps; City News Service contributed to this report. Photos:

Mother Elizabeth Acevedo and her son Andres, 3, wait for news of her son Jose an eight-grader student at the Belmont High School in Los Angeles Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018. Two students were shot and wounded, one critically, inside a Los Angeles middle school classroom Thursday morning and police arrested a female student suspect, authorities said. (Damian Dovarganes)

Los Angeles Fire department's Erik Scott, far right, police officers and school officials gather outside the Belmont High School in Los Angeles Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Parents wait for news of students at the Belmont High School in Los Angeles Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018. (Damian Dovarganes)

Los Angeles Policecordon off the Belmont High School in Los Angeles Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Los Angeles police cordon off the Belmont High School in Los Angeles Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)