Los Angeles School Shooting Leaves 2 Injured, 1 in Custody

At least two students were shot in a middle school classroom in Los Angeles on Thursday, and a female suspect was taken into custody, police said.

Police received a call about the shooting at 8:55 a.m. local time and responded to Salvador Castro Middle School, in the Westlake North neighborhood. The school shares its campus with Belmont High School.

Officer Drake Madison of the Los Angeles Police Department said that two 15-year-old students had been shot. One, a boy, was in critical but stable condition after being shot in the head, and the second, a girl, was in fair condition after she was shot in the wrist. Three other people suffered minor injuries. Police found a gun on the scene.

Police said that a girl was in custody and that they were not searching for additional suspects. Madison said that the motive was unknown.

About 360 students from the sixth to the eighth grade attend the middle school, located in one of Los Angeles’ most densely populated neighborhoods. Westlake, a heavily Hispanic area, is home to more than 20 schools.

The Los Angeles Unified School District said in a statement that counselors would be available to talk to those affected by the shooting. The district’s interim superintendent, Vivian Ekchian, said that the school had been declared safe and offered thoughts and prayers to those who were hurt.

The shooting was one of at least a dozen on school campuses in 2018, a drumbeat of violence that has become a new normal in the last several years. Late last month, two 15-year-olds were killed and 18 more people were injured at a shooting in Benton, Kentucky.