las plumas high school

OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) - A student fired shots inside a high school and held three students hostage for over an hour before he was taken into custody Friday morning, authorities said. No one was injured.

The 17-year-old student initially took about 30 students hostage in a band room at Las Plumas High School around 9 a.m., said Police Capt. Jerry Smith. He quickly released most of them, but held three students for about an hour longer before he was arrested, Smith said.

The gunman's only demand to deputies during the standoff was that they ``back off,'' he said.

A message posted on the Oroville Union High School District Web site said all six schools were locked down until the standoff ended. Smith said the teenager fired numerous shots at random from a handgun.

Oroville is 65 miles north of Sacramento. OROVILLE, Calif. -- A male student gunman is in custody after a shot was fired at Las Plumas High School and two female students were taken hostage.

The Butte County Sheriff's dispatch reported that all students held hostage were released, and a gunman is in custody.

According to early reports, a 17-year-old male gunman held up to 30 students hostage with a handgun in the school's band room. He may have held three more students for about an hour, including two females, until he was arrested.


Linda Garrett, a reporter for KNVN, said the hostage suspect did not have a history of trouble and said that his only demand was that officers not enter the building.

Garrett also said that the gunman reportedly had been having family problems, and had recently broken up with his girlfriend.

Authorities used cell phones to arrange two hostage negotiations with the gunman.

Charity Bailey of KNVN said a shot was fired into the air and nobody was injured.

The office of Butte County said there have been no reports of injuries of deaths.

Students are being moved to the Church Of The Nazarene at 2238 Monte Vista Ave. At least 400 students were taken to the church for refuge.

A notice on the Oroville Union High School District Web site says, "If your student is at the Las Plumas campus you will not be able to pick them up at this time. If you would like to pick up a student from another school, be prepared to show identification and please be patient with the emergency support staff."

OROVILLE ―A gunman, who had held hostages at Las Plumas High School for two hours, has surrendered to authorities. Apparently no one was injured in the incident.
At about 10:40 a.m. Butte County sheriff's officials announced the student suspect had been taken into custody.

Immediately prior to his surrender, the gunman released two female students from the campus bandroom, where he had held hostages since about 8:30 a.m.

At about that time the suspect fired a revolver once and possibly twice inside the bandroom.

Initially, he had more than two dozen hostages, including at least one teacher.

Sheriff's officials began negotiating with the student by telephone. At about the same time, the sheriff's SWAT unit.

Over the intervening hours, the suspect released students from the bandroom.

LPHS was immediately put into lockdown, and parents were told to gather at the Nazarene Church on Monte Vista Avenue.

Parents were kept in a room at the church, separate from where the press was staging.

A reporter from the Enterprise-Record reported a cheer went up from the parents when word was passed to them the crisis had ended.

Sheriff's officials reported all of the hostages had been accounted for and there were no injuries.

Besides LPHS, both the Oroville Elementary School District and the Palermo School District were also in lockdown, even though there were no specific threats in those locations.