Nightmare… Carlsbad School Shooting: Deranged Gunman with Halloween Jack-O’-Lantern Opens Fire on Small Children at California Elementary School (video)
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on October 9, 2010
This is every parent’s most frightening nightmare. A deranged gunman, carrying a Halloween jack-o’-lantern and dressed in black, climbed over a fence and opened fire on small children playing on the playground at a Carlsbad, California elementary school yesterday.
By the grace of God, none of the children were killed, although two young girls were shot and taken to the hospital.
From LA Now, Gunman in Carlsbad school shooting was carrying jack-o’-lantern as he opened fire, wounding 2 students:
A gunman dressed in black and carrying a Halloween jack-o’-lantern or can of gasoline wounded two students at an elementary school in Carlsbad, Calif., before being tackled by construction workers.
Ed Willins, who was nearby when the incident occurred, said he saw the workers tackle the gunman. “They were on him immediately,” he told The Times. “They administered a little street justice on him before the cops got there.”
Shortly after noon, the gunman rolled up to Kelly Elementary School in his car, said Lt. Kelly Cain of the Carlsbad Police Department. Armed with a .357-caliber handgun, Cain said, the assailant stepped onto the sidewalk next to the playground and started firing “wildly.”
Two students suffered “non-life threatening” graze wounds and were being treated by doctors, officials said, and the bomb squad was called to examine a propane tank found in the gunman’s car.
After the shooting, parents were notified and came to pick up their children at the school, located in an upper middle-class neighborhood with tall trees and a spacious park.
[Updated at 3:24 p.m.]: Construction worker Carlos Partida said he saw the suspect firing his gun at the children. He said the gunman appeared to be reloading and trying to leave the scene when he jumped in his truck and rammed the man, knocking him down.
“My reaction was to get him. Get him away from the kids,” he said. Partida said he and two other construction workers held the gunman down until police arrived.
The two children were airlifted to Rady Children’s Hospital. Witnesses said they did not appear to be seriously injured as they were taken to the aircraft and that one of them even waved to onlookers.
From NBC San Diego, Gunman IDd in Carlsbad School Shooting:
Children in Carlsbad ran for their lives Friday after a gunman — whom a witness described as deranged — scaled a fence and opened fire. The heroic actions of three construction workers finally put an end to the terrifying ordeal.
Carlsbad Police named the suspected shooter as Brendan L. O’Rourke, 41, in a press release. It said when the police arrived, O’Rourke was detained by the three civilian witnesses who intervened by chasing the suspect and removed the weapn from him.
O’Rourke is scheduled to be booked into the Vista Detention Facility for six counts of attempted murder and numerous violations involving weapons, said police.
Police confirmed at about 2 p.m. on Friday that two children who had been playing outside at recess at Kelly Elementary School in Carlsbad were “shot in the extremities” and had “non-life-threatening wounds.”
From CNN iReport, School Shooting in Carlsbad,CA – 2 kids shot:
A gunman described as wearing a black jacket opened fire at Kelly Elementary School in Carlsbad, CA around noon October 8. Two females, ages six and seven were shot in the “extremities” and air lifted to a Children’s Hospital. Their parents told the Carlsbad Unified School District that their kids are “doing good.”
The school went into lockdown as three construction workers who happened to be working in the area tackled the gunman. Neighbors also ran out to stop the gunman after hearing repeated shots fired.
Police arrested the suspect 41-year-old Brenden L. O’Rourke. He is booked with six counts of Attempted Murder and numerous violations involving weapons.
Parents were able to reunite with their children three hours later at a nearby park. The Red Cross was there to offer support and well as a Police Chaplain. The school district is offering counseling to students and staff. If the school is no longer considered a crime scene, Superintendent John Roach says it will reopen on Monday.
About the author
[...] Vicki McClure Davidson’s joint, the Frugal Cafe Blog. Typical of the great work she does is her coverage of the Carlsbad school shooting. It’s not all serious stuff she covers: today is 10/10/10 [...]
I want to point our that every left leaning rag or other online version of “news”, has made the claim that the gunman was “ranting incoherently about Obama”. One of them even went so far as to claim his “rantings” were about Obama’s “Big Brother control of the Internet”. How is it, NOT ONE of the witnesses have made statements to the Press? Why is it there is this inferred crap from the Press? Why is it they inject this crap into a story except they have NO real quotes from actual witnesses? It’s proof positive that the mainstream media is STILL working to discredit the conservative cause. It’s meant to make the conservatives seem like crazy right-wing nuts even if they have to lie and invent it. The LA Times was at the forefront of the claim of “rantings”; MSNBC and CNN have followed suit. What shameful dishonest scum they are. You see, they’ll stop at nothing! Don’t let them spread lies like this!!! Discredit these numbskulls!