Divorce of Parents and Availability of Guns to Everyone in the US:

Santa Clarita School Shooting Was # 367, Part of US Gun Violence, Leading to 34,168 Deaths this Year (2019)

November 15, 2019


Saugus High School, in Santa Clarita, California, which was the site of gun shooting on NNovember 14, 2019	Students from Saugus High School, in Santa Clarita, California, reuniting with their parents after the school shooting, November 14, 2019

GUN VIOLENCE ARCHIVE 2019

Evidence Based Research - since 2013 PUBLISHED DATE: November 15, 2019

https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/

Teen who opened fire at Saugus High dies of self-inflicted wound; guns are seized from his home

Los Angeles Times, Nov. 15, 2019 5:44 PM

By Hannah Fry, Leila Miller, Richard Winton, Brittny Mejia

The teenage shooter who opened fire at Saugus High School died Friday of a self-inflicted gunshot wound as investigators seized unregistered firearms from his home and tried to determine the origin of the handgun used in the deadly attack.

Authorities say Nathaniel Berhow carried out the violence at the Santa Clarita campus on his 16th birthday after being dropped off at school by his mother. School surveillance video reviewed by law enforcement shows a boy pulling a pistol from his backpack and opening fire in the quad, killing a 15-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy and wounding three others in an attack that lasted 16 seconds.

At one point during the gunfire, the weapon jammed and the shooter cleared the firearm before he continued firing. He appeared to know how many shots he had fired and left the final round for himself, ending the attack with a gunshot to his head, said Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva. The teen died of that wound Friday afternoon. Authorities said his mother was with with him at the hospital.

Investigators think the attack was planned but said they do not suspect specific students were targeted.

“He seemed very familiar with firing the weapon,” Villanueva said. He added that the shooting was not a “spur of the moment act,” but officials have not determined a motive.

Federal and state investigators are also trying to determine whether the handgun used by the suspect was made from parts purchased separately and then assembled, law enforcement sources told The Times.

These so-called ghost guns are unserialized weapons manufactured from parts that can be ordered through the mail or machined parts acquired from underground makers.

The sources said the gun design appears to be unusual but emphasized that officials don’t know its origins at this time.

Investigators found several firearms during a search of the teen’s home, and some were not registered. Villanueva did not specify what types of guns were recovered. The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department is working with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to trace the origins of the .45-caliber handgun used in the shooting.

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“The gun violence experienced across our nation, and all too often on school campuses, has prompted our district, like others, to conduct staff and student trainings for these unthinkable events,” he said in a statement. “We take the training seriously; we prayed that we would never need it. Yet today, our brilliant staff bravely and vigilantly went into action.”

Detectives have conducted 40 interviews and still have six to go in their efforts to piece together what led up to Thursday’s shooting. They’ve also searched the teenage suspect’s papers and computer hard drives for any clues as to a motive, but so far, none has emerged. The teen didn’t leave behind a suicide note or manifesto detailing any plans, Sheriff’s Capt. Kent Wegener said Friday.

Friends and neighbors of the suspect were stunned, saying the teen showed no signs of aggression. He ran junior varsity cross-country and helped younger members in his Boy Scout troop. Classmates described him as being very intelligent, an academic achiever who often received the highest marks in his classes.

“He was pretty funny too,” Brooke Risley, 16, said. “He had a higher-level type of humor that often I couldn’t even get the joke ’cause it was above my head.”

However, public records and a high-ranking law enforcement source indicated there were signs of trouble at home.

His family life in Santa Clarita was upended by his father’s sudden death in December 2017, acquaintances said. More recently, a source told The Times that the boy was having problems with his girlfriend, who was his emotional anchor.

The teen’s father, Mark Berhow, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in 2013 and 2015 and pleaded no contest twice. The second time, he was sentenced to 45 days in jail and five years’ probation.

According to jail records, he was also booked in 2015 on suspicion of attempted battery of a spouse. The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office declined to file charges in that case, citing insufficient evidence.

A judge granted physical custody of the boy to his mother in August 2016, even though both parents still appeared to live in the family’s small ranch home on Sycamore Creek Drive.

“It’s a tough day here in Santa Clarita,” Villanueva said. “Grab your kid, hold them a little tighter and make sure they do the right things when they’re in school.”

Authorities are asking any witnesses who have not already spoken to police to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.

Times staff writers Sarah Parvini, James Queally, Soumya Karlamangla and Alejandra Reyes-Velarde contributed to this report.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-11-15/santa-clarita-shooting-teen-girls-wounded-at-saugus-high-school-recovering-suspect-in-critical-condition

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Santa Clarita shooting:

What we know about the Saugus High School suspected gunman, victims

By Kristin Lam Grace Hauck

USA TODAY, November 15, 2019

Police are still searching for a motive in the shooting at a Southern California high school Thursday morning (November 14, 2019).

Authorities have conducted more than 40 interviews but have not uncovered a manifesto, diary, suicide note or writings, Capt. Kent Wegener of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office said at a press conference Friday afternoon.

The suspect, identified Friday as Nathaniel Tennosuke Berhow, fatally shot two classmates and injured three others before shooting himself in the head with his last bullet during the 16-second attack Thursday morning, said Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva.

Berhow died about 3:30 p.m. PDT at a hospital.

Students who recently filmed an active shooting training video said they couldn't believe violence struck at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, home to Six Flags Magic Mountain and 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

The incident was the 30th shooting attack at a school this year, according to the gun safety group Everytown.

Here's what we know so far:

What happened at Saugus High School?

The gunman pulled a weapon out of his backpack around 7:30 a.m. local time and opened fire at the school, which has a student population of about 2,500 in grades 9-12.

He shot five students in the quad area with a 45-caliber semi-automatic handgun before shooting himself, said Capt. Kent Wegener of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office.

L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Friday that surveillance footage showed the shooter entering the quad, taking out a pistol from his backpack and firing the first round.

The gun then apparently jammed, Villanueva said, and the shooter was forced to take time to fix it before firing a second round and then injuring the remaining four students. Then, he used the last round on himself.

According to Villanueva, the entire incident happened over 16 seconds. The shooter "seemed very familiar with the weapon," and his exact knowledge of how many rounds were in the gun suggests that the shooting "wasn’t a spur of the moment act," Villanueva said.

The sheriff dismissed suggestions Friday that the shooter had targeted his ex-girlfriend. “As far as we know, the actual targets were at random,” Villanueva said.

The shooter's mother had dropped him off at school that morning, Villanueva said.

Saugus and all other schools in the district went on lockdown as police swarmed the area. Once students were allowed to reunite with their parents, families were seen embracing and crying.

The school district remained closed Friday. Counselors at a local church comforted parents and students.Santa Clarita Mayor Marsha McLean said that the city would be launching a website Friday at saugustrong.org to provide resources to the community. A vigil was planned for Sunday.

Who is the suspect?

Officials described Berhow as an Asian male student at the school whose 16th birthday was Thursday.

Neighbors and classmates described him as pleasant but noted that he was changed by the death of his father two years ago.

The suspect was a quiet, normal student, said Brooke Risley, a 16-year-old junior. He ran cross country and was a Boy Scout.

“He doesn’t seem like the kind of kid to do this,” Risley said.

Though the teen was sometimes a little sad, next-door neighbor Jared Axen said he didn't come off as depressed.

Berhow's father died from a heart attack in December 2017, according to an obituary. Although his father had owned guns, Axen, 33, said he didn’t think Nathaniel Berhow viewed them in an unhealthy way.

Who are the victims?

They're all students. A 16-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy died at a local hospital. Wegener said the three injured victims are two girls, 14 and 15, and a 14-year-old boy. None of the victims have been identified by law enforcement.

Officials on Friday released the identity of one victim, Gracie Anne Muehlberger, 15, who succumbed to her injuries Thursday morning with her parents by her side. The other victim who died was identified as 14-year-old Dominic Blackwell.

The two girls are in good condition and the boy was discharged Thursday, according to officials at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital and Providence Holy Cross Medical Center.

The two girls taken to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center were “sitting up, smiling, and talking” by Friday morning, doctors at said in a press conference.

The 15-year-old girl underwent surgery, and doctors expected to discharged her within the next two days. The 14-year-old girl, who sustained superficial injuries, was expected to be discharged soon.

The doctors commended the girls’ composure throughout the process. “These are historic young adults,” said Dr. Boris Borazjani. “They held their composure despite being shot, and being shot in the torso is a big deal.”

Doctors said that the victims were working through the “profound psychological effect” of the incident, and that they would be receiving support and counseling from professionals at the hospital.

Other than attending the same school, Wegener said law enforcement officials have not found a relationship between the shooter and the victims. The two girls at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center appeared to know each other, doctors said Friday, but they could not say if the girls were familiar with the suspected shooter.

How did the suspect get a gun?

Authorities on Friday were still analyzing the weapon and its origin, Wegener said.

Law enforcement officials have not shared any information about how the suspected shooter obtained the gun used in Thursday's assault. The 16-year-old couldn't have legally bought it himself: In California, licensed dealers cannot sell a firearm to anyone under age 21.

Authorities said that they had recovered several firearms from the shooter’s home and had accounted for all firearms registered to the shooter’s father. Some of the firearms recovered from the home, however, were not registered to the father, and some were not registered at all, Villanueva said.

Were there any warning signs?

Authorities said Friday that they were still working to identify any social media accounts linked to the shooter. A post on an Instagram account that said “Saugus, have fun at school tomorrow” was not linked to the shooter but originated outside of the country, Wegener said.

"We disabled this account for violating our policies," an Instagram spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY via email. "We can confirm it did not belong to the shooter."

Wegener said his department looked into recent threats against Saugus High and identified two, both of which were investigated and deemed to be unrelated to Thursday's shooting. Authorities have not determined a motive but don't believe he was acting on any ideology.

What safety measures were in place?

The school district website says a resource officer is assigned to every campus, and the schools have fencing and supervisors monitoring who goes in and out. The Saugus High campus is fenced and has a dozen security cameras but no metal detectors.

"The gates to the campuses are locked during instructional time and typically only unlocked when students are leaving campus for lunch or leaving school at the end of the day. Visitors are directed to the office to check-in.''

Contributing: Jorge Ortiz and Mike James, USA TODAY

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/11/15/santa-clarita-shooting-saugus-high-school-what-we-know/4197964002/

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‘The Big Question Is Why:’ Motive for Deadly Saugus High School Shooting Remains Unclear

KTLA, November 15, 2019

by Anthony Kurzweil and Lynette Romero,

Motive for Deadly Saugus High School Shooting Remains Unclear

What prompted a Saugus High School student to bring a gun to school on his 16th birthday and shoot five classmates – fatally wounding two of them -- before turning the gun on himself Thursday remains a mystery to investigators.

“The big question is why,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said during a television interview early Friday morning.

The shooter, identified by multiple sources as Nathaniel Berhow, wasn’t a loner Villanueva said. “He wasn’t socially awkward. Was involved in student activities. A student athlete … this is kind of out of the blue,” he said.

The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have joined the Sheriff’s Department in looking for clues

Investigators have searched Berhow’s home in Santa Clarita and are digging through his social media accounts.

“Still we don’t have the answers we’re looking for,” Villanueva said.

An Instagram account that initially appeared to be tied to Berhow did not, in fact, belong to him, a company spokesperson confirmed to KTLA.

The account had a bio that read, “Saugus have fun at school tomorrow,” prior to Thursday’s shooting.

The account was disabled for violating Instagram policies, spokesperson Stephanie Otway said. It was not immediately clear who owns the account.

Surveillance video from the school, located at 21900 Centurion Way in Santa Clarita, has helped investigators piece together the tragic events that occurred Thursday morning.

Around 7:30 a.m., the video shows Berhow walking into the school’s quad area.

“He was just standing there, really not engaged with anyone” Villanueva said.

At one point, Berhow takes off his backpack, reaches in and retrieves .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol.

The gun actually jammed after firing the first round but he cleared the malfunction and then fired again at the remaining four victims, Villanueva said.

“He used literally six rounds that he fired and he saved the last round for himself,” Villanueva said.

Deputies respond to Saugus High School after a gunman opened fire on Nov. 14, 2019. (Credit: KTLA)

The entire incident lasted only 16 seconds, according to investigators.

The gunman never chased any of his victims and appeared to just shoot whoever was there at the time, Villanueva said.

Three off-duty members of law enforcement were the first to respond to the shooting and render aid to the wounded students.

Six students, including the gunman, were transported to local hospitals.

Two of the victims, a 16-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, were later pronounced dead. Their identities have not been released.

Two girls, ages 14 and 15, were said to be in good to fair condition at the hospital. A 14-year-old boy was released Thursday.

Berhow was said to be in grave condition at Henry Mayo Hospital following the shooting.

A memorial is seen at Central Park near Saugus High School in Santa Clarita on Nov. 15, 2019. (Credit: KTLA)

Villanueva said Berhow was living with his mother and there had been no service history of calls to the residence. Berhow’s father had passed away in 2017 from natural causes, he said.

Investigators said it was still unclear how Berhow was in possession of the gun.

This was the 142nd school shooting involving a minor with access to a firearm since 2010, Villanueva said.

Several vigils and prayer services were held in honor of the victims Thursday night. A growing memorial could also be seen Friday morning at nearby Central Park, where many of the students ran to safety as the shots rang out.

https://ktla.com/2019/11/15/the-big-question-is-why-motive-for-deadly-saugus-high-school-shooting-remains-unclear/

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A 16-second spasm of violence leaves 2 dead at Saugus High School

Hannah Fry, Richard Winton, Alejandra Reyes-Velarde

Times, November 15, 2019

On a clear autumn day, students at Saugus High School looked forward to the holidays, to Friday night’s “Cheer-a-thon” for campus spirit squads and to Saturday’s Sadie Hawkins Dance.

The rites of high school remained intact on the 2,500-student campus in Santa Clarita until the arrival Thursday morning of an enigmatic and troubled classmate, dressed in black, who would soon reprise a new American ritual.

It was not long before the start of second period when a student previously known as a cross-country runner and a Boy Scout — who should have been enjoying his 16th birthday — pulled a .45-caliber pistol from his backpack and began shooting his schoolmates.

A 16-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy died at a hospital soon after. Three other students also were taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia, though one of the wounded would be released by afternoon. Suspect Nathaniel Berhow, who authorities said ended the 16-second spasm of violence with a bullet into his own head, was listed in grave condition.

A few hours later, in an evacuation and reunification zone set up in the community’s Central Park, an evacuee in a Saugus dance T-shirt tried to come to grips with what had happened. “We are one of those schools now,” she said. “Just like Parkland.”

Indeed, there have been 92 mass shootings in the U.S. since 17 people were gunned down in February 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. And that’s just counting shootings in which at least five people, other than the shooter, were injured and at least two died. Four of those shootings were at high schools or colleges.

Though investigators were searching the teen suspect’s papers and computer hard drives for any clues as to his motive, none immediately emerged, said Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva. A school surveillance camera recorded the incident, but the video did not make clear whether the teen targeted his victims or fired at random.

The teen appeared to know how many shots he had fired and left the final bullet for himself, Villanueva said. It was all over too quickly for anyone to intervene.

The first call to the Sheriff’s Department arrived at 7:38 a.m., and deputies arrived two minutes later, Villanueva said. By then, five victims and the suspect were down — all transported to the Henry Mayo hospital emergency room.

“I regret to inform it’s a sad day in Saugus,” Villanueva said.

“We simply should not have to fear for our kids’ lives when we drop them off at school,” tweeted California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Katie Hill, who recently resigned as the community’s congresswoman, issued a statement expressing condolences to a school she graduated from 15 years ago and expressing her anger that the U.S. Senate had blocked attempts to control dangerous weapons.

No one described exactly when the suspect arrived on campus. If he had kept to his schedule, one classmate said, he would have been due in AP psychology at 7:57 a.m. In the minutes before the day’s second period, many freshmen and sophomores tend to congregate in the quad, students said.

The first shot had sounded so ordinary, something like the pop of a balloon, recalled Lauren Farmer, 17. She thought little of it. But then came three more pops. “That’s when we realized this isn’t normal,” Lauren said. “Something is wrong.”

Background

But public records indicated there had been trouble inside the teen’s home. His mother and father had split, and his father had been arrested in 2013 and 2015 on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Mark Berhow pleaded no contest both times, in the second instance being sentenced to 45 days in jail and five years of probation. Authorities also arrested him in 2015 on suspicion of attempted battery of his wife, but no charges were filed because of insufficient evidence, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office said.

Mark Berhow died in December 2017. “He would tell me that he missed his father,” next-door neighbor Jared Axen, 33, said of the teenager, “and that he loved him.”

Axen, a sometime chess partner of the teen, said the eruption of violence stunned him.

“I think he was hurting and didn’t know how to ask for help,” he said. “It’s terrible about what he did and it’s terrible what he did to those kids.”

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Times staff writers James Rainey, Lelia Miller, Colleen Shalby, Matt Hamilton, Richard Winton, Alejandra Reyes-Velarde, Dakota Smith, Jaclyn Cosgrove, Sonali Kohli, Nina Agrawal and Joe Mozingo contributed to this report.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a-16-second-spasm-of-violence-leaves-2-dead-at-saugus-high-school/ar-BBWKXvN?ocid=spartanntp

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