Three people, two of whom were armed with handguns, entered Rudsdale High School in east Oakland, California, early Wednesday afternoon, firing more than 30 rounds and wounding two students at Rudsdale Newcomer and four other adults, police said, KQED reports.
The assailants “appeared to be targeting specific people,” although their motive is still unclear, the station quoted Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong as saying during a press conference Thursday.
The shooting left two adult victims hospitalized with life-threatening injuries and panicked family members who arrived at Rudsdale Newcomer to retrieve students. But the campus, which actually includes four separate programs, including Newcomer, was in lockdown, the New York Times reported.
A database compiled by Education Week counted this as the 32nd school-related shooting this calendar year resulting in injury or death. So far, not counting either of the two who may lose their lives from Wednesday’s shooting, 26 students or children have been killed, as have three school employees or other adults.
Oakland was already recovering from the trauma of another school shooting on August 29. A 12-year-old boy faced felony charges, including discharging a firearm, for firing a semiautomatic pistol accidentally at Madison Park Academy, a middle/high school, also in east Oakland, and injuring another student.
Rudsdale Newcomer is a satellite pathway of Rudsdale High School within the Oakland Unified School District. Rudsdale serves high school newcomer youth in an alternative setting designed to be responsive to the needs of immigrant youth.
