Santa Clarita school shooting: Two students killed in California with suspect in 'grave condition'
A 14-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl have been killed
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The FBI is not aware of any motive or ideology that drove a 16-year-old boy to shoot and kill two teenage schoolmates and injure several others on his birthday.
Early this morning, the suspect entered Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California, removed a semi-automatic pistol from his bag, then shot five people and himself.
A 14-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl arrived in critical condition at a nearby hospital but later died.
The suspect is in "grave condition" after surviving a gunshot wound to the head, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Police say today is his birthday.
Three other people are being treated for injuries at area hospitals.
As dramatic aerial footage showed students being escorted from campus by armed deputies, politicians and gun control advocates railed against conditions they argue paved the way for yet another deadly school shooting.
News of the shooting was breaking as Senator Chris Murphy was introducing a measure calling for universal background checks, a proposal that was shut down by GOP senators.
"Republicans objected, my motion failed, and now, as a consequence, the slaughter of our children will continue," he said. "Devastating."
California Senator Kamala Harris told MSNBC that it's "pathetic that people yield to a gun lobby on an issue that affects all our children."
Katie Hill, the former California Congresswoman who recently stepped down from office, said in the statement that the "time is now" to defeat gun control opponents.
Follow updates as they happened.
California Senator Kamala Harris on MSNBC:
"It is pathetic that people yield to a gun lobby on an issue that affects all our children."
Police are searching what's believed to be the suspect's neighborhood, a quiet, tree-lined street in Santa Clarita.
One student said she "never thought I’d be at a school where this would happen."
Former President Bill Clinton phoned into CNN to talk about the Santa Clarita shooting and make a call for tightening gun control:
"We can all talk about sympathy and we can talk about mental health ... but this is an opportunity for us to do something responsible."
Sheriff Alex Villanueva: The suspect is a 16 year old student. He is in the hospital.
Capt Kent Wegener: All six victims, including the suspect, were students.
Today is the suspect's birthday.
Police searched the suspect's neighbourhood but found no other victims. Police believe the shooting was isolated to the quad on the school's campus.
The suspect took out a handgun from his backpack, shot and wounded five people, then shot himself in the head.
One female student later died.
A 15 year old female and two 14 year old males are in the hospital.
The Santa Clarita Sheriff's Office reports that the suspect is in "grave condition."
Two other victims with critical injuries are at Holy Cross Hospital.
Another victim with noncritical injuries has been sent to a nearby hospital.
Including the shooter, that's seven victims total.
FBI's Paul Delacourt says the FBI is doing a social media scrub and assisting with witness interviews.
He says there are no other threats to the school or the area.
He says they do not know the suspect's motivation or idealogy.
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