SANTA CLARITA, California – Filipino-American families were among those affected when a 16-year-old student opened fire in a campus just before classes started on Thursday.
Attorney Ed Allan Lindain just dropped off his son at his elementary school when he got word from his older daughter that there was a shooting at a nearby high school.
“We got scared. We got terrified. We immediately got in contact with the school. The elementary school has been in close contact with the parents of the children,” Lindain said.
Schools around the area, including Lindain’s son’s elementary school, was placed on lockdown while the suspect, a student at Saugus High School, was still at large.
At least two have been killed and several others wounded, some of whom in critical condition.
The shooter was described as an Asian male, dressed in black and carrying a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol.
Reports of the shooting prompted a massive and immediate response by law enforcement and school officials.
Students who were taken to a reunification center at a local park after the lockdown said they heard a loud bang causing panic and triggering protocol based on the mass-shooting trainings practiced every semester.
By 9:45 a.m., local reports said that the suspect was taken into custody and brought to a local hospital for treatment.
“During the time that the suspect was still at large, everyone here in the community was very nervous and we were really scared. Now that the suspect is in custody, there’s a sigh of relief for all of us but the whole community is still grieving with what happened,” Lindain added.
Lindain said this "new norm" of mass shootings, even in the safest neighborhoods, is deeply concerning.
“Santa Clarita has always been a peace-loving community. We take pride in the peace and order situation here. For this thing to happen is really terrifying,” he said.
Anti-gun violence organizations reported that this year alone, Thursday’s incident is the 38th shooting with injury or death at an American elementary or secondary school.
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source: news.abs-cbn.com
