Police detain suspect in possible shooting at Southern California school

Police detained a male suspect on Friday morning after responding to reports of a possible shooting at a Southern California high school, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.

There were no immediate reports of shots fired or casualties. Deputies were still searching Highland High School in Palmdale, California, around 8:15 a.m. local time (1515 GMT), a little more than an hour after the reports first arrived.

The suspect, who was not identified, was unarmed when he was detained by police, according to department spokesman Bob Boese.

“We’re still looking for a weapon,” Boese said.

In a statement, the school district’s superintendent, Raul Maldonado, said, “It has been confirmed that earlier this morning, there was an active shooter on the Highland High School campus. Apparently, the person was already apprehended.”

The department received multiple reports of an armed man at the school, which is about 90 minutes north of Los Angeles.

Sheriff’s deputies also headed to a second school, Manzanita Elementary School, a few miles away after receiving reports around 7:30 a.m. that people thought they heard gunfire, Boese said.

“People heard shots, but there’s no confirmation on that,” Boese said.

The department said on Twitter that deputies searched the school and had found no evidence of a crime as of around 8:30 a.m.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were responding to the scene, the ATF said on Twitter.