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4 dead, 10 injured as California gunman goes on rampage
Rampaging through a small Northern California town, the gunman targeted an elementary school and several other locations.
A gunman on Tuesday killed four people and injured a further 10 before being shot dead by law enforcement officers in northern California.
The incident occurred in the rural community of Rancho Tehama Reserve, close to Sacramento.
The assailant, identified as Kevin Neal, started by targeting an elementary school at around 8:00 am local time. He was seen striding on the premises with a semi-automatic rifle and a vest with extra clips. However, he was unable to enter the building, which was on lockdown.
He fired into the building for about six minutes before leaving to continue the shooting spree. He shot at homes as he drove by, crashing his vehicle into another and then opening fire on its passengers as they emerged from it. He also shot at a woman who was driving her children to school.
“It was a bizarre and murderous rampage,” Tehama County assistant sheriff Phil Johnston said. “I think the motive of getting even with his neighbours and when it went that far — he just went on a rampage.”
Neal’s mother told the Associated Press she suspected he was cooking methamphetamine. He had been arrested in January for assaulting a neighbour — one of the four people he killed.
