The father of a student at a Riverside, Calif., elementary school was shot to death by police after he held a teacher hostage in a classroom for six hours.
KABC-TV reports that Luvelle Kennon, 27, was fatally shot Tuesday evening at Castle View Elementary School after SWAT officers burst into the classroom to rescue the teacher.
The teacher held hostage was identified as Linda Montgomery, 70, a first-grade teacher. Montgomery sustained some scrapes and abrasions, police say; Montgomery's daughter says the teacher is doing okay.
Police are trying to determine the motive for Kennon's actions,The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports. Classes at Castle View were cancelled for the rest of the week.
Witnesses said Kennon arrived Tuesday morning at the school's office—the only point of entry into the campus. He rushed through the office and entered the school without permission. A substitute teacher pursued Kennon and tried to stop him, but Kennon punched him in the face; he suffered a broken nose.
Kennon barricaded himself in a classroom and held Montgomery hostage until police decided to storm the classroom. Police say one factor that led them to enter the classroom was that he wouldn't let them see or speak to the hostage.
Authorities subsequently determined that Kennon was unarmed.
