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Tag: high school shootings

  • BULLETIN: Massachusetts Teacher Found Murdered; 14-Year-Old In Custody

    breakingnews72BULLETIN: (UPDATED 10:37 A.M. EDT U.S.A.) A 24-year-old teacher reported missing late last night was found murdered in the woods near Danvers High School in Essex County, Mass., prompting the closure of all schools in the district today, authorities said.

    Precisely how Colleen Ritzer died was not revealed at a news conference by District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett. The conference concluded minutes ago and was carried live by WHDH.com.

    A 14-year-old has been taken into custody and is a suspect in the killing, authorities said.

    Police began investigating after Ritzer did not return home from work last night. Upon checking at the school, police found blood in a restroom. Ritzer’s body later was found in the woods, Blodgett said.

    “She was a very, very, respected, loved teacher,” Blodgett is quoted in the Boston Globe as saying about Ritzer. “It’s a terrible tragedy for the entire Danvers community.”

    Police yesterday had received a report that a 14-year-old male was missing and last had been seen “at the Hollywood Hits Cinema on Endicott St around 6:30 this evening,” Danvers police said.

    The boy later was found and apparently now is the suspect in the death of Ritzer, who taught math at the school.

    It is the second murder this week of a teacher in the United States. Mike Landsberry, a math teacher in Sparks, Nev., allegedly was shot and killed Monday at Sparks Middle School by a 12-year-old who shot two other pupils before shooting himself to death.

    Yesterday’s killing of Ritzer mars the celebratory mood in and around Boston, where the Red Sox will open the World Series tonight versus the Saint Louis Cardinals. The Boston region is still recovering from the terrorist bombing at the Boston Marathon in April, just as baseball season was getting under way.

    WHDH-TV 7News Boston

  • BULLETIN: At Least 2 People Shot At Gardena High School Near Los Angeles; Teen Taken Into Custody On Live TV As Confusing Scene Plays Out

    At least two people have been shot at Gardena High School near Los Angeles, KTLA is reporting.

    Early reports from a host of media sources were wildly conflicting. The first reports described a situation in which a gunman who had shot three people had either fled the scene or was holed up inside a classroom, putting the public, students, teachers and police at continued risk.

    Later reports suggested the shootings were accidental and occurred when a gun that had been inside a backpack under the control of a 16-year-old student discharged inside the school.

    How a gun got inside the school undetected, why a backpack would be used to conceal a gun and why a high school sophomore would be in possession of a gun on school property were not immediately clear. The 16-year-old student was taken into custody as the confusing drama played out on live TV.

    The conditions of the victims were not immediately known. Ambulances were at the scene. One student was reported to have suffered a gunshot wound to the head. A second student was reported to have been grazed by the same bullet.

    Prior to the detention of the student, heavily armed police were seen with weapons drawn outside a building on the campus. Gardena, a city of about 57,700, is in Los Angeles County. Gardena High School is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

    A police officer, perhaps fearing that an adult seen exiting a room was standing in the line of fire of a shooter, was seen pulling the adult away from a doorway. The adult, described as a teacher, tumbled to the ground.

    A short time later students were seen streaming from the room. The scene was confusing because some of the students were seen holding their hands in the air, an image that suggested a gunman could have been forcing them them to leave the room at gunpoint and force them to walk as hostages in front of police.

    NOTE: This dramatic video from KTLA shows the scene as it evolved, including the teacher being pulled from the doorway by an officer as armed police and a sniper stood nearby — and students coming out with their hands up. The scene originally was broadcast live.