2 boys killed in hail of gunfire outside California elementary school
Two boys were fatally shot while sitting in a van outside an elementary school on Saturday, police said. The shootings of the boys, ages 11 and 14, took place in the parking lot of Searles Elementary School, CBS San Francisco reported.
Callers to 911 reported hearing gunfire at around 1:30 a.m., the station said. Authorities said that when officers arrived, they found the boys.
The older boy died at the scene, and the younger child died en route to a trauma center. The shooting woke up neighbors.
"All of a sudden, we heard this pop, pop, pop, pop, I mean it just kept going, it almost sounded like a machine gun type, I mean it was just constant," neighbor Gigi Erickson told CBS San Francisco.
New Haven Unified School District Superintendent John Thompson said in a statement that the victims were minors.
The boys attended schools in the district, Thompson and a district spokesman said.
No arrests have been made in connection with the killings.
Police Lt. Steve Mendez said there was no sign of a connection between the shooting and the school where it took place. People occasionally gather in the relatively secluded parking lot, Mendez told the East Bay Times.
Thompson said the school district "will have support for our students and staff at the sites where these students attended when school resumes after the Thanksgiving break."
The district also will work with the Union City Police Department "to ensure that our schools are as safe as they can be," he said.
Police are investigating the possibility that an earlier shooting may be related to the slayings, the Times reported. About 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 20, two men were shot and wounded near an intersection in Union City.
The men were treated at a local hospital and released. Police told the newspaper that no evidence so far has linked the two incidents.
CBS San Francisco reports that anyone with information regarding the shooting is asked to call Detective Joshua Clubb at (510) 675-5227. Information can also be provided using the police tip line at (510) 675-5207, or e-mailing tips@unioncity.org. Calls and e-mail can be provided anonymously.