The Latest: Girl recounts seeing friend, teacher get shot

A 9-year-old student also was critically wounded. He and the boy who died were behind their special-education teacher, Karen Elaine Smith, 53, the target of the man she had married months earlier, police said.

The shooting left hundreds of distraught parents waiting for hours to reunite with their children.

Staffers knew Cedric Anderson, who had been estranged from his wife for about a month, and he got into the school by saying he had to drop something off for Smith, officials said.

Anderson had a history of weapons, domestic violence and possible drug charges that predated the short marriage, authorities said.

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6:05 p.m.

A 9-year-old girl who was in the San Bernardino elementary school classroom where a gunman opened fire says the man “shot everywhere,” hitting her friend and her teacher.

The girl, Marissa Perez, and her mother, Elizabeth Barajas, cried and hugged as they reunited several hours after Monday’s shooting.

Marissa was one of 15 students in the special-education classroom at North Park Elementary School when Cedric Anderson killed the teacher, his wife. One student standing behind Karen Smith died and another was injured. Anderson then killed himself.

Marissa, who had a small amount of blood on her sweatshirt as she talked to The Associated Press, says she hid under the table as soon as she saw the gunman.

She says the man just walked in and started shooting. She pointed to her stomach when asked where her friend got shot.

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4:40 p.m.

A man who authorities say killed his estranged wife and a student in her special-needs classroom had posted on social media last month that his wife was “an angel.”

On what appeared to be his Facebook page, Cedric Anderson also posted photos in March with Karen Elaine Smith. Police say the couple had been estranged for at least a month.

Anderson posted a video in February saying she’s “making me really happy.” In the 12-second clip, he also said, “She knows when to ignore me” as he laughed and flashed a smile.

He said, “that makes a happy marriage.”

A post on what appeared to be Karen Smith’s Facebook page invited friends to the couple’s wedding in January. Anderson posted several photos of the wedding and their honeymoon in Sedona.

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4:10 p.m.

Authorities say a man told a San Bernardino school that he had come to drop something off for his teacher-wife before shooting and killing her and a student in a special-needs classroom.

Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said Monday at a news conference that 53-year-old Karen Elaine Smith was targeted and that her estranged husband, 53-year-old Cedric Anderson, opened fire “very, very quickly upon entering the classroom.” There were 15 students in the classroom.

Burguan says Anderson shot and killed himself after shooting his wife. Two children standing behind Smith were struck by gunfire, killing 8-year-old Jonathan Martinez and wounding a 9-year-old boy.

San Bernardino City Unified School District superintendent Dale Marsden said Anderson was “known to staff” at the school.

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4 p.m.

Authorities say a man was estranged from his wife before he shot and killed her in a special-needs classroom in San Bernardino in a murder-suicide that also left a student dead.

Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said Monday at a news conference that 53-year-old Cedric Anderson and 53-year-old Karen Elaine Smith had only been married for a few months and estranged for at least a month.

He says “no one has come forward to say they saw this coming.”

Burguan also said Anderson had a criminal history of weapons charges, domestic violence and possible drug charges but didn’t provide details.

An 8-year-old student was hit by gunfire and died, while a second 9-year-old boy was wounded and is in stable condition.

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3:50 p.m.

An 8-year-old student has died after being shot in a San Bernardino classroom during what police describe as a murder-suicide.

The suspected gunman, 53-year-old Cedric Anderson, of Riverside, shot his wife, 53-year-old Karen Elaine Smith. She was a teacher in the special-needs classroom for students in first through fourth grades where the shooting took place.

Police say he said nothing and opened fire on his wife with a large-calibre revolver. Two children standing behind Smith were struck by gunfire.

Police identified the boy who died as Jonathan Martinez. Authorities didn’t name the other boy who was wounded and is now in stable condition.

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This item has been corrected to show the woman’s name is Karen Elaine Smith, not Elaine Smith.

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2:30 p.m.

Some students are being reunited with their parents after a shooting at an elementary school in San Bernardino.

Video from news helicopters showed lines of young children clapping and giving high-fives as they walked to meet their parents at a nearby high school.

Parents waved and cheered as they greeted their children.

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12:43 p.m.

A San Bernardino police official says two children wounded in a shooting at an elementary school were not the targets.

Police Capt. Ron Maass says, “The children we do not believe were targeted. The suspect had come to the classroom to visit. The adult female was in the classroom.”

Police did not identify the shooter or the teacher.

The weapon was a handgun, police said.

The two wounded students are in critical condition.

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12:37 p.m.

A San Bernardino police spokesman says two wounded students are in critical condition after a shooting at an elementary school.

Authorities have said the suspect and another adult are dead.

The shooting took place in a classroom.

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11:35 a.m.

The San Bernardino police chief says two adults are dead after a shooting at an elementary school.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan says on Twitter that investigators believe “the suspect is down.” He says there is no further threat to the school.

Burguan says the shooting is believed to be a murder-suicide.

He said at least two students were taken to a hospital.

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11:28 a.m.

A spokeswoman for San Bernardino City Unified school district says one of four people shot in a classroom was a teacher.

Maria Garcia says the shooting is believed to be a domestic dispute.

At least two students have been airlifted to a hospital.

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11:20 a.m.

The police chief of San Bernardino says a shooting at an elementary school appears to be a murder-suicide.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said on Twitter that there four victims being treated, including at least two students who were taken to a hospital.

He says the shooting happened in a classroom.

The other students in the school were being evacuated and taken to a nearby school.

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11:05 a.m.

A fire official says multiple people have been shot at an elementary school in San Bernardino.

San Bernardino County fire spokesman Eric Sherwin says the shooting happened Monday morning at the North Park School in San Bernardino.

Sherwin says numerous firefighters and police officers are headed to the scene.

No further information was immediately available.

The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

The Latest: Girl recounts seeing friend, teacher get shot

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