A classroom shooting at Taft Union High School southwest of Bakersfield that left a 16-year-old boy in critical condition stunned parents and students.

Some compared the incident to the Newtown, Conn., shooting, and so did various public officials who hastened to issue condemnations. In a statement denouncing the gun violence, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said her father had attended the school.



Angela Hayden, whose 16-year-old daughter attends Taft High, said the suspected shooter allegedly threatened to kill her daughter and other students last year while they were on a school bus during a field trip to Universal Studios.

PHOTOS: Shooting at Taft Union High School

“He was telling everyone that he had a list of people who messed with him over the years and that he was going to kill him,” Hayden told The Times. She said the boy allegedly said his brother would be the first victim.

After shooting the classmate, the suspect, 16, tried to shoot a second boy and missed before an unarmed science teacher was able to talk him down, police said.

Police officers arrived after the teacher had disarmed the shooter, and took him into custody. They seized his firearm and about 20 extra rounds in his pocket, they said.

The teacher, Ryan Heber, was struck by a pellet round to the head but not seriously injured and declined treatment, authorities said.

“If it weren’t for this teacher and his quick response, we don’t know what would have happened,” said Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood.