California High School Junior Takes Classmates Hostage

Published: September 30, 2007

SACRAMENTO – A student, 17, entered a high school campus in Oroville, Calif., with a handgun, held classmates captive in a band room and fired shots into the ceiling before surrendering to police Sept. 28.

Around 9 a.m. that morning at Las Plumas high school, a teacher had noticed the student smoking a cigarette and holding a gun, said school officials. A security aide and the principal found the boy in the band room, but they left when he pointed the .22-caliber pistol at them. He fired a shot as they exited.

Multiple students ran away screaming when the hostage incident started, witnesses said. The shooter let some of those still in the room call their parents and released most of them one after the other.

Frightened teachers locked down classrooms and SWAT team members gathered around the band room. The gunman kept three students behind and held them hostage for more than an hour while he negotiated with deputies. He surrendered at around 10:30 a.m.

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Regional law enforcement officers surrounded the Oroville area, about 75 miles north of Sacramento, and locked down many area schools as a precaution.

The siege at Las Plumas high school lasted 90 minutes. No one was injured.

The student had recently broken up with his girlfriend, said his stepfather, and had no prior trouble with the law.

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