Teen arrested in shooting, stabbing of California high school students
NOVATO, Calif. -- SWAT officers arrested a 17-year-old suspect Thursday afternoon in the fatal shooting and stabbing of two Northern California high school students, authorities told CBS San Francisco station KPIX.
Marin County deputies and officers from local police agencies staged the tactical raid at a home located just a few blocks from Novato High School.
SWAT officers stormed the home with assault rifles at the ready, KPIX helicopter footage showed. The 17-year-old was led from the home, shirtless and put into a police car.
"We have detained one person who was in the house," Marin County Sheriff's Department Lt. Doug Pittman told KPIX. "He is one of the three suspects we were searching for. I can't tell you what his exact role was."
Pittman said other raids may also be staged later Thursday afternoon for the two outstanding suspects who are considered armed and dangerous.
At a morning news conference, Pittman confirmed that the two victims were students at Novato High School. Their names and ages have not been released.
Pittman said one student was fatally shot while the other is in stable condition at a hospital after being shot and stabbed.
"While the details of the incident are still developing, we do know that Novato High School students were involved in a shooting in Novato," principal Matt Baldwin and Superintendent Jim Hogeboom wrote in a letter to parents Wednesday night.
"To ensure the safety of students and staff, and due to the uncertainty surrounding this situation, we are closing Novato High School on Thursday," the letter went on to say.
It was "an incident involving a small number of people" and "there is no further threat to the community at this point," Pittman said.
Marin County Sheriff's Office deputies and Novato Police Department officers responded around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and located one of the shooting victims on a quiet hiking trail on the edge of a country club community. The victim had also been stabbed and was transported to the hospital with serious injuries.
A second shooting victim was later located nearby, according to the sheriff's office. The second victim was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The suspects were described as three Hispanic males, according to the sheriff's office.
School will resume on Tuesday, following a staff development on Friday and the Memorial Day holiday on Monday, according to a notice on the school website.
Novato is about 20 miles north of San Francisco.