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Police detain 14-year-old in shooting at southern California high school

Panicked Twitter posts say multiple shots were fired and students are sheltering in classrooms.
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A 14-year-old male student is in custody after he allegedly came to his high school in Palmdale, California, on Friday morning armed with a rifle and opened fire, wounding one other student.

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department told VICE News that they received numerous 911 calls regarding a man with a gun at Highland High School, located about 65 miles north of LA, shortly after 7 a.m., just as students were arriving on the campus of 4,000 students.

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Capt. Darren Harris told KTTV that the shooting stemmed from a dispute between the suspect and the victim.

The suspect had apparently discarded the firearm after the shooting, which authorities recovered off-campus in the surrounding desert “after an extensive search by sheriff’s deputies,” ABC7 reported.

The school district put Highland and all other area high schools on lockdown. Panicked Twitter posts emanating from the immediate area said students were sheltering in classrooms. Parents arriving to drop students off turned around and drove away.

"Law enforcement is working to assess the situation," school principal Chris Grado posted on Twitter. "Please stay clear of campus. Will update as soon as have more information."

Sheriff's deputies arrived and started searching the campus. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms also responded to the scene. By 9 a.m. local time, police said they had cleared the building.

Highland High School, Palmdale, California. Google Earth View

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Cover image: Google Earth image of Highland High School in Palmdale, California