Updated 21.00
A GUNMAN HAS opened fire at an elementary school in southern California, resulting in at least two deaths.
Two children remain in a critical condition in the aftermath of the attack at the North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino.
Police have confirmed that the children are not believed to have been the intended targets. The school is no longer considered to be under threat.
“The children we do not believe were targeted. The suspect had come to the classroom to visit. The adult female was in the classroom,” said Police Captain Ron Maass.
There was no indication the gun was visible upon his arrival at the school.
A spokeswoman for San Bernardino City Unified school district says one of the four people shot in a classroom was a teacher.
Maria Garcia says the shooting is believed to relate to a domestic dispute.
“We believe the teacher knew who the shooter was,” she said, adding that all other students were safe.
Students gathered on a field and a blacktop basketball court inside the fenced-in grounds of the campus near a line of school buses. The school has about 600 students in kindergarten through different grades.
Frantic parents running up a sidewalk looking for information about their children were not able to learn immediately what happened. Several parents interviewed on TV said their children were too young to carry mobile phones, so they had not been able to contact them to see if they were safe.
Early reports indicate that the incident may be one of murder-suicide.
The other students at the school have since been evacuated to another nearby school.
Local station KABC reports that at least four people, including the gunman are among the injured.
With AP
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