Police in California arrested a suspect after reports of shootings at two schools near Los Angeles yesterday, the local sheriff’s department and education officials said.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff said one suspect had been detained “regarding the person with a gun” at Highland High School in Palmdale, 40 miles (65lm) north of downtown Los Angeles.
Local news reports had earlier said that at least one person had been wounded.
It was not immediately clear what type of weapon was used.
Los Angeles police said that a 14-year-old student had been detained.
The victim, also aged 14, was hit in the arm and was in stable condition at a hospital.
Nearby schools were put on lockdown, CNN said.
Agents with the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) were also heading to the scene, the agency said in a tweet.
About a half hour later, calls were received about “shots fired” near Manzanita Elementary School, around eight miles to the west, the sheriff’s department reported.
Deputies said they had secured both locations.
“Update regarding Manzanita Elementary School in Palmdale: Deputies have searched the campus. School is clear. So far, no evidence of crime. Investigation still ongoing,” the department tweeted.
Local news channel ABC7 said that multiple callers had reported a man with a gun at Highland High shortly after 7am (1400 GMT).
Deputies and California Highway Patrol officers established a perimeter in the area.
“We are all concerned about the safety of our children,” Palmdale School District Superintendent Raul Maldonado said in an alert. “It has been confirmed that earlier this morning, there was an active shooter on the Highland High School campus.
“Apparently, the person was already apprehended. I want to let you know that all of the Palmdale Elementary Schools were put on lockdown, and will stay on lockdown until the situation is confirmed as safe for our students, teachers, staff and parents.”
The initial reports of a possible school shooting drew immediate attention from major news outlets and cable TV networks.
It underscored the national debate over gun control and gun rights that was reignited by the mass shooting of 17 students and staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Palmdale, a city of about 160,000 people, boasts that it is the “aerospace capital of the United States”.
It is home to a US Air Force aircraft manufacturing plant that includes production facilities operated by Boeing Company, Lockheed Martin Corporation and Northrop Grumman Corporation.