2 injured in Skyline High School shooting
OAKLAND, Calif. - The sound of bullets pierced the air at what should have been a momentous occasion at Skyline High School’s graduation Thursday evening, sending students and their families running for cover up in Oakland’s hills.
At a press conference, Oakland police Lt. Robert Trevino said the shooting happened around 7:45 p.m. on the north side of the campus. Trevino said officers found two victims, a man and a woman, suffering from gunshot wounds.
Trevino said the two victims were transported to local hospitals and are in stable condition.
Investigators are looking into reports of a dispute that preceded the shooting. Trevino said there were multiple suspects, but could not provide an exact number.
He said the shooting appeared to be an isolated incident.
As of Friday morning, two suspects were detained, police said.
Several witnesses described to KTVU hearing and seeing the shooting unfold towards the end of the ceremony.
One woman, with tears in her eyes, said she and her husband were parked in the school's parking lot waiting for their daughter, who had attended the graduation for a friend. The woman said she heard two bangs and saw people running.
"I told my husband, 'I don't think those were fireworks,'" the woman said, adding that she saw a group of guys shooting.
"For a high school graduation to end like this is horrible," she said.
Kyle Jackson was among the crowd and was recording a video when "next thing I know, I hear gunshots out of the crowd. I don't know what happened after that; I just saw everyone running for safety."
Jackson said he hoped everyone was safe.
"It's clearly unfortunate, definitely on a day like this. For some of these students that graduated, this is supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. It's crazy. I just hope they can put it in the past and move past it," he said.
A student named Mohamed Sulaiman, who was wearing a red cap and gown, said the school did a very good job of escorting the students and their families out through the school and to safety.
Mohamed said despite what transpired, he still had a happy day because he graduated. On the other hand, he said he was sad because he heard a woman had been shot and injured.
The scene seemed surreal with dozens of police cars, including the California Highway Patrol, parked nearby a white tent and empty white chairs where high school graduates had just celebrated a teenage rite of passage before setting off into adulthood.
A sign that read "we have amazing educators" hung on a fence outside the entrance to the school where Tom Hanks once attended.
Paramedics were also seen moving what appeared to be an injured person into an ambulance.