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Gunfire At High School Near San Diego
LOS ANGELES, March 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - For the second time in three weeks, a teenage gunman on Thursday rampaged through a California school shooting at classmates and teachers.
The gunman shot and wounded three students and two teachers at Granite Hills High School in suburban San Diego, before a policeman on duty at the campus brought a quick end to the attack, shooting the gunman.
The suspect, Jason Hoffman, an 18-year-old student, was taken to a hospital after being shot in the jaw and buttocks, police Captain Bill McClurg said.
Shortly after students returned to classes from lunch, about 12:45 p.m., Hoffman, driving a pickup truck, stopped outside the school administration office and opened fire from the street with a military-style, Mossberg pump-action 12 gauge shotgun, authorities said.
He was spraying the building with ammunition, breaking windows and creating chaos in fifth-period classes throughout the campus, authorities added.
Students screamed, teachers yelled orders and everyone dived under desks waiting for the police
They did not have to wait long. Officer Richard Agundez, stationed at the school, heard gunfire and stopped the gunman in mid-spree even before he could use his second weapon, a .22-caliber handgun.
Agundez, a former SWAT officer recently assigned full time duty in the El Cajon school district, engaged in "an old-fashioned shootout" with the gunman, said Liz Pursell, spokesman for the San Diego County district attorney's office.
"The kid opened fire. The officer heard him. He was right around the corner. So he fired back," Pursell said.
Four people were injured by flying glass or in the resulting rush to get out of the building. Witnesses said the gunman fired eight rounds at least from the shotgun, reloading at least once. Agundez, the police officer involved in the shootout, was uninjured.
Hospital and police officials said shotgun pellet wounds suffered by three students and the teachers were not life threatening. Three other students and a man were treated for various other injuries. According to police, a pregnant woman rushing to the campus went into labor.
The motive for the attack was not known. Investigators said they would probably seek charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon against Hoffman.
The shooting at Granite Hills High School occurred one day after someone sprayed graffiti on a sidewalk at nearby Cajon valley middle school threatening a shooting there at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, according to a statement from the Grossmont Union High School District.
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