'Unintentional' Shooting at LA Middle School Injures 5

A 12-year-old has been charged with negligent discharge of a firearm after five people were injured at Sal Castro Middle School.

  • By Sydny Shepard
  • February 02, 2018

The scene was hectic in Los Angeles yesterday morning when the news broke that there had been a shooting on a shared campus with Belmont High School and Sal Castro Middle School. Original news reports explained that a shooting had injured one person at the high school, but later police would confirm that a female student brought a loaded semi-automatic handgun to school and when she placed her backpack down in a Sal Castro classroom it discharged.

The result was two 15-year-old students with gunshot wounds, one male who suffered a gunshot graze to the temple and a female who was shot in the wrist. Another two students were injured with non-gunshot wounds and an adult was injured by shrapnel.

The shooting was reported to police Thursday at 8:55 a.m. It happened in an elective class with students from different grades, said the LA School Police Chief Steven Zipperman.

Detectives on the case were slow to answer questions about motive and security of the school's campus. In Los Angeles, campuses are known to have metal detectors and random screenings of students to ensure the security of the students. It is not known at this time if Sal Castro Middle School had any security screenings on the day of the shooting, but somehow the gun made its way through the front doors of the school and into a room full of students.

The 12-year-old suspect was taken to the Los Angeles County Central Juvenile Hall and was booked for negligent discharge of a firearm. Police did not say what led up to the shooting and little information was released about the girl who was detained, other than she was taken into custody without incident.

The middle school will continue with classes on Friday.

This is the 12th school shooting since the beginning of the year and follows only days behind a shooting at Kentucky's Marshall County High School where 16 people were injured and two were killed.

About the Author

Sydny Shepard is the Executive Editor of Campus Security & Life Safety.

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