Photo Cred: David McNew / Getty Images
A San Bernardino elementary school special education teacher and two of her students were shot this morning. One student was fatally shot while the other student was badly wounded by the teacher’s estranged husband. He opened fire with a high caliber revolver before turning the gun on himself according to police. Authorities said the gunman had a criminal history that included weapons charges and domestic violence that predated his brief marriage to the slain teacher.
Both students were boys and were believed to have been caught in the line of fire Monday morning. This shooting took place just about 8 miles away from where a radicalized Muslim couple killed 14 people in a December 2015 shooting rampage.
The gunman was identified as Cedric Anderson, and his wife as Karen Elaine Smith, both 53. The couple had been married briefly and had been separated for about a month or month and a half prior to the horrific incident.
Fifteen students and two adult teacher assistants were in the classroom along with the couple at the time of the shooting, police said.
According to police Anderson was welcomed into the school as a legitimate visitor, stopping by to “drop something off with his wife,” and kept his weapon concealed until he opened fire in the classroom according authorities.
The school was evacuated after the shooting and students were taken to the campus of California State University at San Bernardino to be briefed and interviewed by authorities. From there, they were taken to a nearby high school and reunited with their families.