Kevin Janson Neal (pictured), 43, has been named as the killer who shot dead four people and injured at least 10 more in a spree that climaxed with him firing 100 rounds into a school

The California gunman who killed at least four people and hospitalized 10 more - including two children as parents took their children to school - has been identified as Kevin Janson Neal, 43.

Neal, who sometimes used the name Smith, was identified as the shooter after his Tuesday rampage, which climaxed with him smashing into a school's gates and firing into its walls and windows.

Family say he was addicted to drugs and was awaiting trial for stabbing a neighbor in a feud.

He began his rampage near his home on Bobcat Lane in the Rancho Tehama Reserve at 7.52am, shooting people at random before stealing a truck and performing drive-bys on homes, pedestrians and other drivers.

Neal eventually arrived at the Rancho Tehama Elementary School and smashed through its gates before firing as many as 100 bullets through windows and walls, hitting one child, and trying to enter classrooms. He then fled, and was shot dead by police near the property.

'I thought there was a car accident,' Stephanie Turner, who was dropping off her children, aged six and seven, at the time, told the Sacramento Bee of Neal's assault on the school gates.

'I pulled into the school and heard gunshots. I told my kids to get down onto the floor. Then I saw a guy in the back of the school with a rifle. As soon as he saw us, he started shooting at us. I just took off.'

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Police evidence tags lie in the abandoned playground at Rancho Tehama Elementary School where Neal opened fire after a miles-long drive-by spree on Tuesday, injuring children

One child - Alejandro Hernandez (seen left, and right after shooting) - was hit in the school. He will undergo surgery to remove two bullets on Tuesday night. Other kids were hurt by glass

Neal performed a series drive-bys in this stolen truck (seen with police investigators) before smashing into school gates in it and firing through windows and walls

Forensic investigators are seen at the Rancho Tehama Elementary School on Tuesday night. Neal fled the scene in a stolen vehicle and was shot dead by cops at a nearby intersection

According to the local school district, Neal shot through windows and walls, hitting one child in a classroom, who had to be airlifted to hospital and is in stable condition.

He also attempted to enter classrooms in order to continue his rampage, but the school had been locked down, preventing access, Fox News reported.

Hernandez is seen here with his cousin Arlene Monroy

The gunman is believed to have fired between 90 and 100 rounds. A semi-automatic rifle and two handguns were retrieved from the scene.

That child was identified as Alejandro Hernandez, 6; he was hit in the chest and foot, according to a cousin who started a GoFundMe page for him.

He was airlifted to Mercy Medical Center in Redding in critical condition, but is expected to recover, according to his cousin, Aly Monroy.

Monroy told DailyMail.com: 'As of now he is stable, but he still has the bullets in his chest and foot. He will be going into surgery tonight to remove them. I'm not sure how long he is expected to stay [in hospital].'

One parent, Coy Ferreira, who was dropping off his daughter at the kindergarten at the time, told local station KRCR that he was there when the first shots were fired.

'It sounded like a firecracker went off and we all stopped and were stunned,' he said. 'Then, like a minute later, there were three more shots fired.'

He said that a school employee ushered parents and children into the building.

School district officials said that other children were injured by glass when the windows were shot out.

After firing on the school, Neal stole another car and drove off, but was shot dead at a nearby intersection by police after a brief gunfight.

The gunman's shooting spree began at 7.52am on a residential street. He then drove in a stolen truck towards the town where he shot three people - including a mother and her child - before arriving at the school, less than two miles from the first attack, and opening fire

Law enforcement officers work at Rancho Elementary School where the gunman was killed after opening fire

Above, a taped-off road in the town after the gunman was killed by police at an elementary school. The truck of a woman and her child who were shot is pictured abandoned at the scene

The vehicle of a woman and her child who were shot on Rancho Tehama Road by the gunman. They were both taken to hospital

The shooting appears to have come after a long period of instability from Neal, including stabbing one of his neighbors.

Tehama County District Attorney Gregg Cohen told ChicoER that on January 31, a long-standing dispute between Neal and two female neighbors came to a head when he shot at them and attacked one with a knife.

Neal was arrested in January for shooting at two neighbors and stabbing one of them, at the climax of a long-running dispute. It's not clear if they were among his Tuesday victims

He said Neal opened fire on the neighbors as they walked along a wooden fence.

He reportedly then jumped the fence, stabbed one of them and stole the other's cellphone.

Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston told Fox News that one of the victims was the woman he shot in January, although it's not clear if she was fatally wounded.

Police are still working out the exact motive for the shooting.

After the January attack, Neal was arrested and charged with second-degree burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of false imprisonment by violence, discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, possession of an assault weapon and misdemeanor battery.

Bail was set at $160,000; he was due to go to trial in January 2018.

Court documents say he had an AR-15 Bushmaster rifle - which has been used in multiple mass shootings - although it's not yet known if it was used in Tuesday's shooting.

Neal's family says he had a violent temper and had no business owning firearms.

Kevin Neal's sister told The Associated Press she believes her brother was addicted to drugs.

Sheridan Orr said she had not talked to her brother in months and was appalled when she heard about the shooting.

District Attorney Gregg Cohen said that while the school incident was shocking, it came at the close of Neal's 45-minute rampage, during which four other victims were killed.

'Obviously, the school gets all the attention, but there were many other people who were killed by his hands,' he said.

Two school officials embrace on the grounds of the Rancho Tehama Elementary school after Neal shot and injured one child. That boy was airlifted to hospital in critical condition

Police secure the site of the shooting. Neal has rammed the school gates before firing through windows and walls at the children inside. He then stole another car and fled

After fleeing the school, Neal was shot dead by police after a brief gunfight at a nearby intersection. The rampage took around 45 minutes

Neal's neighbors said they had been complaining for weeks about the gunman, who lived on the street, firing his gun late at night and early in the morning.

But on Tuesday morning the nuisance turned deadly when Neal fired at several people, killing one man in his driveway.

From there, Neal used one of his neighbor's vehicles to drive into town where he crashed it. Before going to the school, he stole another person's car and used that to get to the school.

On his way, he opened fire on a woman and her daughter who were in a Ford truck on the main road leading into the town.

Both were taken to hospital along with three children and an adult from the school.

Another person was reportedly shot at Stagecoach Road and Oak Park Road, another intersection leading in to the town.

The gunman then arrived at the school and fired between 90 and 100 rounds before police arrived.

He then stole another car and fled to a nearby intersection before being gunned down in a brief gunfight with police.

All of the people who were killed were adults. It is not yet clear if anyone else lost their life elsewhere in the small town.

There was a large police presence on the road leading into the town on Tuesday morning

Video courtesy of KRCTV

Tehama County Sheriff's Deputies are still grappling with the facts and have confirmed that they are working across seven different crime scenes where they believe the gunman attacked.

At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, sheriff's deputy Phil Johnston said the gunman went on a 'shooting rampage' after injuring at least one person on Bobcat Lane.

'The initial call was shots fired with a man down; directly after that multiple 911 calls from various sources at multiple locations including the elementary school.

'Essentially, with this individual, after the initial shooting, he took vehicle and went on a shooting rampage throughout the community.'

He continued: 'Right now we have no known motive, we know of no real connection to any of the victims. Most of the victims in this case appear to be random selections,' he said.

He took off and went on a shooting rampage through the community Sheriff's Deputy Phil Johnston

Witnesses have since described seeing the gunman drive through the town and selecting victims at random, firing his weapon at them from behind the wheel of his car.

One told how he saw a woman shot dead in the street next to her husband. One student was taken to hospital from the school.

Witnesses described hearing 'hundreds' of rounds as the shooting unfolded. Another, who lives near the school, described hearing children screaming.

'We heard multiple shots, starting with about 10, and proceeding to about 90 shots, of a high powered some kind of rifle sounding.

'We heard a man and children screaming from my location, I'm about three blocks from the school, I could hear people screaming at the school,' one witness, who gave her name only as Tiffany, told ABC affiliate KRCTV.

An aerial view of Rancho Tehama Plaza, another of the scenes where police are working

Officers were also working at this plaza. It is not clear yet who, if anyone, was injured here

One man who lives on the street where the shooting began claims it was his roommate who was killed.

'I got a call to say the person who stays in my house had been shot.

'I drove home and the police have everything blocked off. I heard there was a shooting and I'm getting more information that my other neighbors were shot.

'My truck was stolen and used today in the crime and it's terrible,' Brian Flint told KHSLTV.

The man added that the gunman was 'crazy' and that he was on bond for stabbing one of his female neighbors.

'As far as we know he was crazy. He shoots a lot of gunshots at night, in the morning. Like a hundred rounds,' he said.

He claimed to have called police numerous times to report the man for shooting his gun late at night and early in the morning.

Brian Flint said the gunman was his neighbor. He claimed he was 'crazy' and that he had complained to police about him firing his gun recently

After opening fire on his neighbors, the gunman drove 1.3 miles before opening fire again on a person at the corner of Stagecoach Road and Oak Park Road.

The circumstances of that shooting, which was reported by Red Bluff Daily News, are not known.

Anne and I are saddened to hear about today's violence in Tehama County, which shockingly involved schoolchildren Governor Jerry Brown

He then opened fire on the woman and her child at Rancho Tehama Road, shooting them through the window of their grey Ford pick-up truck before moving on to the school.

Parents were dropping off their children at the time and some hid inside along with teachers when the first rounds were fired.

Rancho Tehama is around 120 miles north of Sacramento and sits between the towns of Red Bluff and Corning.

After the shooting, Governor Jerry Brown issued this statement: 'Anne and I are saddened to hear about today's violence in Tehama County, which shockingly involved schoolchildren.

'We offer our condolences to the families who lost loved ones and unite with all Californians in grief.'