Kevin Janson Neal
By Nicholas Stix
Update, Wednesday, November 15, 11:31 p.m.: A fifth victim of Neal's died today of his wounds.
Gunman wildly sprays school with bullets, and quick action prevents mass bloodshed
November 15, 2017, 2 a.m.
L.A. Times
Students were playing in the schoolyard at Rancho Tehama Elementary, waiting for the morning bell to ring, when gunshots erupted a quarter mile away.
Teachers and staff immediately rushed the children into classrooms and under desks, locking the doors.
A white Ford F-150 crashed through the front gate as they hunkered down, the driver emerging with a semiautomatic rifle. Wearing a ballistics vest, he stormed into the quad and shot at the walls and windows, but was unable to enter the schoolrooms. After several agonizing minutes, the shots stopped. The gunman got back in the stolen pickup and moved on to other targets in this dusty enclave in the hayfields of Northern California.
At least four people would die at his hands, before the 45-minute killing rampage ended when officers, firing in pursuit on a rural road, rammed his car and shot him to death, authorities said.
They said the lockdown by the school and the bold action by the officers prevented a greater death toll.
“This incident, as tragic and bad as it is, could have been so much worse if it wasn’t for the quick-thinking staff at our elementary school,” said Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston. “I really want to say that the quick action of those school officials, there is no doubt in my mind based on the video that I saw, saved countless lives and children.”
No children died at the school, although two suffered gunshot wounds and were airlifted to hospitals, witnesses said....
[Read the rest here.]
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