This is a developing story. The Journal will continue to update this story with more information as it becomes available.
(MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. / The Journal) — Members of the Mount Vernon STEAM Academy school community have practiced two emergency drills during 9th period on Wednesday and Thursday, a lockdown drill on Wednesday and an evacuation drill on Thursday. Unfortunately, the date of the evacuation drill coincided with another school shooting in California.
According to NBC News, initial reports came in at 7:38 am Pacific (10:38 am Eastern) from Saugus High School in Santa Monica, about 45 miles from Los Angeles. Santa Monica is also home to Six Flags Magic Mountain, one of the 25 Six Flags amusement and water parks in North America. Six Flags Magic Mountain is almost 7 miles away from Saugus High School.
Part of the William H. Hart Union High School District, it will be closed on Friday along with the other 16 high and junior high schools in the district "out of respect for the victims and their families", according to Deputy Superintendent for Educational Services Mike Kuhlman. An excerpt of his statement on behalf of the District's administrative team can be found below.
" Today, our community was shattered by the unthinkable: a tragic shooting at Saugus High School took the lives of several precious members of our school community, injured several other students, and shook every one of us to our core. As I write this message, I know our entire school community shares my profound sadness and disbelief. I want to share some important information with you, and I thank you for your kind attention to this message."
— Mike Kuhlman, Deputy Superintendent of Educational Services,
William H. Hart Union High School District
His full remarks can be found here.
The gunman is 16-year-old Nathaniel Tennosuke Berhow, a student of the school. He is currently listed as being in grave condition. Out of the 7 wounded, including the gunman, who were all Saugus students, there have been 2 confirmed deaths: a 16-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy. One of the 7 was treated for a medical issue or injury not directly caused by the shooting. All 7 were transported to area hospitals, including Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital.
The shooting lasted 16 seconds on Berhow's 16th birthday. A motive is unclear at this moment, but the FBI is helping the Santa Clarita Police Department as well as the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department with the investigation.
CREDIT: ABC7 Los Angeles KABC-TV (Facebook)
CREDIT: NBC4 Los Angeles KNBC-TV (nbclosangeles.com)
CREDIT: CBS2 Los Angeles KCBS-TV, (losangeles.cbslocal.com)
CREDIT: ABC7 Los Angeles KABC-TV, (abc7.com)
CREDIT: Hearst Communications, Inc. d/b/a KCRA-TV Channel 3 NBC Sacramento (YouTube)
Coincidentally, Connecticut Senators Richard Blumenthal (D) and Chris Murphy (D) were advocating for stricter gun control measures on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. when news of the shooting in California broke. The U.S. Supreme Court recently allowed the lawsuit from the families of the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting victims against a national gun manufacturer, Remington Arms Co., to move forward. Blumenthal was handed a note during his speech on the Senate floor about what had happened.
Back here at home, it is unclear why there was a lockdown drill on Wednesday. But, it was apparent as the news spread on Thursday of the events in California, it weighed on peoples' minds a bit during the evacuation drill. MVPD School Resouce Officer Lloyd and Principal Bradley had both commented in the evacuation center that they hope that they will never have to do this for a real emergency but also noted that the world is changing and that is why they say the practice drills are important. We will continue to follow the events in California, as well as any new information about the practice drills here in Mount Vernon.
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