Investigators are trying to find whoever killed an 18-year-old and wounded three different individuals shortly after a high school graduation ceremony in California’s Bay Area.
The gunfire erupted Wednesday after the ceremony for Sem Yeto High School, which started at 6 p.m. The alternative school shares a campus with Fairfield High School, about 50 miles northeast of San Francisco.
At about 7:15 p.m., authorities responded to a shooting within the car parking zone of Fairfield High School, police mentioned.
“Three victims, ages 11, 20, and 25, sustained non-fatal gunshot injuries. A fourth victim, an 18-year-old, succumbed to their injuries,” Fairfield Police Officer Michelle Belyea mentioned Thursday.
The 11-year-old is recovering at an area hospital, police mentioned.
Police are usually not publicly figuring out the mass shooting victims “pending next-of-kin notification and to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation,” Belyea mentioned.
NCS has requested the school district whether or not the 18-year-old who was killed had simply graduated from Sem Yeto High School minutes earlier.
The shooting is one in every of not less than 168 mass shootings within the US this 12 months, based on the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as one by which 4 or extra victims are shot.
About 1,000 individuals attended the graduation ceremony, “with hundreds of potential witnesses to this tragedy,” Belyea mentioned.
Detectives are “identifying and interviewing these witnesses” and “are working diligently to identify those responsible,” Belyea mentioned. She requested anybody with data to contact Fairfield police.
Authorities didn’t reply NCS’s questions on whether or not the assault was focused or random, or what the motive is likely to be.
“As this is an on-going investigation, no additional information is available for release,” police mentioned in a press release.
The photographs rang out as pictures had been being taken within the school car parking zone the place college students had gathered to congratulate each other and meet up with their households, one witness advised NCS.
“While I was taking pictures with a graduate and her family, I heard about five loud popping sounds,” the witness mentioned, talking on situation of anonymity.
“People seemed confused at first and then quickly panicked once they realized something was wrong.”
The witness didn’t see the shooter, or the course of the gunfire, however recalled “about five objects on the ground that appeared to be shell casings” and harm to a number of autos.
“What happened was heartbreaking and deeply unsettling. A place where students and families had just come together to celebrate should have been safe.”
Amanda Prieto, who lives close to the school, advised NCS affiliate KCRA she was on the telephone in her yard when she heard the gunfire. She was “immediately terrified” by the sound of photographs from the school her 17-year-old son attends.
“I looked over the fence, and people were just screaming and running through the parking lot,” she advised KCRA. “It was horrific.”
Thursday was imagined to be a celebratory final day of school for the 20,000 college students within the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District. Instead, it was overshadowed by grief from the tragedy outdoors Fairfield High.
“Today, our focus is on supporting our students, staff, and families as they process what occurred,” the school district wrote in a letter to the neighborhood Thursday. “Caring educators and mental health support is available at our sites. We encourage anyone who needs support to reach out to their schools.”
We are additionally in direct communication with school district management relating to safety planning and public security concerns for all remaining graduation ceremonies
Seniors from Fairfield High, who’re set to graduate Friday night, gained’t stroll throughout a stage at their very own school.
“Out of respect for our grieving community, we have decided to move tomorrow’s Fairfield High Class of 2026 graduation ceremonies to the Armijo High School Stadium,” the school district mentioned.
The Fairfield Police Department mentioned Thursday it’s going to enhance the variety of officers assigned to a number of upcoming graduation ceremonies hosted by the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District, with further regulation enforcement sources supplied by companions. The division additionally mentioned it has communicated with school district management about safety planning and public security on the occasions.
“We want our community to know that we are thinking deeply about everyone impacted by last night’s events. Our hearts are with our graduates, their families, and all those who attended the ceremony expecting to celebrate an important milestone together,” the district mentioned.
This story has been up to date with further data.