A gunman choosing targets at random opened fire in a Northern California town Tuesday, killing four people at several sites and wounding others at an elementary school before police shot him dead.
The Associated Press reports that the gunfire began around 8 a.m. in the community of Rancho Tehama Reserve, about 130 miles north of Sacramento.
"It was very clear at the onset that we had an individual that was randomly picking targets," Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston says.
Witnesses reported hearing gunshots and children screaming at Rancho Tehama Elementary School in Corning, about five miles down a road from where the shooting is believed to have started.
Several people were wounded at the school, according to Jeanine Quist, an administrative assistant with the Corning Union Elementary School District.
Details were still sketchy hours after the shootings, and authorities did not have a firm count of the wounded due to the number of places the gunman attacked, Johnston says.
Authorities recovered a semi-automatic rifle and two handguns.
Two hospitals said they were treating a total of seven gunshot victims, including at least three children. At least one student was wounded at the school. Another child was shot while driving with a woman, who also was wounded.
