Teacher, Student Hurt In Shooting Near CHAMPS Charter School In Van Nuys
VAN NUYS (CBSLA) – Police have arrested two male suspects in a shooting that wounded two people across the street from a Los Angeles charter school.
CHAMPS Charter High School of the Arts in Van Nuys was placed on lockdown just after noon Thursday, but police stressed the shooting occurred outside a nearby Jack in the Box, not at the school. The lockdown was lifted after both suspects were taken into custody.
A Jack in the Box employee said she heard gunshots and a woman screaming. Another worker said the suspects were on foot and the shooting occurred in the drive-thru.
The suspects were described as two Hispanic men in their late teens. Both were apprehended and a gun was recovered at the scene, according to Los Angeles police.
One victim was a female assistant teacher, and the other was a teenage student. Both were in stable condition.
KCAL 9's Rachel Kim spoke exclusively to the student, 16-year-old Harper Moloney, who said he was walking to class after lunch when he was hit in the leg.
"We started crossing and then, at first, I thought it was someone that popped a bag or something and I wasn't like aware that it was a gunshot," he said.
Moloney said he had just finished lunch with three friends at a nearby Starbucks when he was shot while crossing the street.
"A bunch of people that were running by me were just in tears. It was like really hectic," he said.
That's when campus security guards told students to get inside the nearest classroom, where he realized he had been shot.
"I felt like my leg was like burning. And so I lifted up my pants and there was just blood everywhere. And that's when I was aware that I got shot," Moloney said.
He was taken to a hospital where he live streamed on Facebook to communicate with family and friends.
Meanwhile, parents said they received text messages from students who were still inside the building.
One woman said she raced to the school after getting a text from her daughter.
"I'm crying and can't do anything thinking that my child was inside," she said. "To get that text from your child and you have no control over any of it, it's heartbreaking."
Some parents said they were frustrated to hear about the incident on the news or from their child -- instead of the school or authorities.
"The police station wouldn't give us information, the school isn't answering their phones kids and they're not putting out any information," one woman said.
While others supported the school's actions of placing the school on lockdown, even without notifying parents.
After hours, parents and children were finally reunited.
Police have not yet released further information about the suspects or what led to the shooting.
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