
The mother of a San Bernandino school teacher gunned down by her husband described the killer as 'a wolf in sheep's clothing' who turned on her daughter as soon as they were married.

Cedric Anderson, 53, shot dead his estranged wife Karen Elaine Smith and her eight-year-old pupil Jonathan Martinez before turning the gun on himself yesterday.

Irma Sykes, 80, said in the weeks before her brutal murder, her daughter was in fear for her life after receiving a string of threats from the killer.

Scroll down for video

Karen Smith, 53, (left) was killed along with her special needs student Jonathan Martinez, eight, in a shooting at North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino in California on Monday morning by gunman Cedric Anderson, 53, (right) in an apparent murder suicide. The couple was estranged and only married for a few months, police said

Martinez and another student were standing behind Smith when Anderson entered the special needs classroom and opened fire. The children were both taken to the hospital, where Martinez later died. The other child, 9, is in stable condition. Above, other students being evacuated after the shooting

The school's 520 other children were evacuated on to buses to be taken to a safe zone at a nearby university

She told the Daily News: 'As soon as they married, he turned on her. The real Cedric came out. He told her he would throw her out the window. She was shocked, like "What happened?" He was so kind to her while they were dating. She had no idea.'

Mrs Sykes claimed Anderson had been a pastor for 17 years and her daughter had taught at a Sunday School.

She added: 'She was a wonderful, God-fearing woman. But the bible says, "Thou shalt not kill." So I can imagine where he is now.'

Mrs Sykes said his daughter knew Anderson for about four years before they got married.

She said: 'She thought she had a wonderful husband, but she found out he was not wonderful at all.'

She told the LA Times: 'He had other motives. She left him and that's where the trouble began. She broke up with him and he came out with a different personality. She decided she needed to leave him.'

Martinez and another nine-year-old student were taken to the hospital via helicopter in critical condition. It was announced at a press conference on Monday afternoon that Martinez died of his injuries at the hospital. The other child, whose identity was not revealed, is in stable condition.

Anderson was allowed entry to the school after signing in at the front desk and telling them that he had something to drop off for his wife. They were estranged and had only been married for a few months before the separation.

According to Anderson's Facebook page, the couple tied the knot in late January of this year (pictured). They had been separated for the past month to a month and a half, according to police. It is not known what sparked their separation

Teachers and children lined up outside North Park Elementary School on Monday morning. The two students injured were taken to hospital

Betty Rodriguez, right, comforts her granddaughter Giselle, 11, during a prayer service held to honor the shooting victims

Anderson has several past charges on his record, including domestic violence, weapons and drug-related charges, according to police. It is not known if he was convicted of these charges.

According to Anderson's Facebook page, the couple tied the knot in late January of this year. They had been separated for the past month to a month and a half, according to police. It is not known what sparked their separation.

Anderson had several photos of him and Smith following their wedding ceremony, including videos of them kissing while hiking in Sedona, Arizona for their honeymoon and a post calling her an angel.

The husband posted a video in February saying Smith was 'making me really happy.' In the 12-second clip, he also said, 'She knows when to ignore me' as he laughed and flashed a smile.

He added: 'That makes a happy marriage.'

According to the police and their Facebook profiles, they both had children but it is not yet known if they had the children together.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said: 'Cedric entered the classroom and — from what we understand, without saying anything — armed with a large caliber revolver, opened fire on his wife. She was killed in that exchange.'

On Monday evening, the Riverside home Anderson and Smith shared during their brief marriage was cordoned off with police tape.

The home, inside an upmarket gated community, belonged to Smith - who had previously lived in the property with her ex-husband Roderic, 53.

As DailyMail.com watched, a crime scene investigation team were seen arriving at the house carrying cameras and forensic equipment.

Anderson has several past charges on his record, including domestic violence, weapons and drug-related charges, according to police

Anderson had several photos of him and Smith following their wedding ceremony, including videos of them kissing while hiking in Arizona for their honeymoon

A prayer service was held to honor the shooting victims and several members of the community attended the emotional ceremony after the events that shook the town of San Bernardino

On Monday evening, the Riverside, California, home Anderson and Smith shared during their brief marriage was cordoned off with police tape. The home, inside an upmarket gated community, belonged to Smith - who had previously lived in the property with her ex-husband Roderic, 53

Police SWAT team arrive at the Riverside home of the San Bernardino school shooter. This is the home of Karen Smith who was killed by her husband Cedric Anderson

Police rushed to the scene with SWAT teams and anti-terrorism units as news of the shooting unfolded

He continued: 'I am told that both the students were behind the teacher when the suspect shot his wife. We have no reason to believe that the students were targeted, not that it makes it any better.'

Both of the injured children's families were informed of their involvement in the tragedy before the news conference on Monday afternoon.

For Elizabeth Barajas it had been an hours-long nightmare waiting to learn the fate of the daughter she had dropped off at school a couple of hours before police reported gunfire in a classroom that left two adults and one child dead and another child wounded.

Then, in some ways, the nightmare became worse.

Barajas learned her daughter, Marissa Perez, had been sitting at her desk Monday morning when a gunman stormed into her classroom, shot her teacher to death, killed one of her classmates and wounded another before killing himself.

Elizabeth Barajas holds her daughter Marissa Perez, nine, who witnessed yesterday's shooting inside her classroom

'I don't know what to do. I don't know what to tell her,' Barajas said as the two held each other and sobbed after the ordeal that sent police flooding onto the campus of San Bernardino's North Park School.

As Marissa and about 600 other students were shepherded to safety, Barajas and hundreds of other parents raced to the school. There they would endure an agonizing four-hour wait before learning that all but two of their children were physically if not emotionally unharmed.

'She just said she was scared. As soon as she saw the guy with the gun, she went under the table. She keeps telling me `My teacher got shot, my friend got shot,' Barajas said as she clutched her daughter's blood-stained sweatshirt.

Marissa said the shooter didn't say a word as he opened fire. One of her friends was hit, she added, as she pointed to her abdomen.

Amberly Raffle, who had left her son with his pre-kindergarten class earlier that morning, said she wasn't sure what the sirens were about until her sister-in-law ran to her house to tell her there was a problem at the school.

'Policemen were everywhere and ambulances, firetrucks, helicopters,' she said of the scene she saw. 'I got really scared then.'

It was 'every parent's worst nightmare,' said Holly Penalber as she wiped tears from her face while waiting to hear the fate of her 9-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter.

Penalber, a Riverside County sheriff's deputy, was on a training assignment when she began getting frantic texts from her husband and mother, saying something bad had happened at the school.

Then she waited hours outside a nearby high school where parents were eventually reunited with their children. She was too nervous to join Barajas and others in the library, saying there were more rumors than information there. But eventually she heard from someone who had seen her children and assured her they were safe.

'It was such a sigh of relief. But I won't feel good until I hold my kids,' she said.

One of the first parents to be reunited with a child was Raffle, who cried tears of joys as she embraced her son.

'He doesn't really know what happened,' she said. 'I think we're blessed because of that.'

Barajas is concerned about what witnessing the shooting will do to her daughter.

'They can't just tell us your kids are fine,' she said. 'Obviously my kid is not fine. She witnessed what happened to her teacher and the other students, and all they said is your kids are safe, your kids are fine.'

San Bernardino Police confirmed at a press conference that the shooter signed in at the front desk and was known to other staff who did not know he was carrying a gun when he was allowed entry.

From the front desk, he walked to the female teacher's classroom where he opened fire.

'The entire incident is limited to a single classroom. The suspect had come to visit the female victim,' Captain Ron Maas of the San Bernardino Police Department said.

'The children, we do not believe were targeted. (They were) the unfortunate recipients of injuries by being in proximity to the female at the time.'

Police do not yet know how many shots exactly were fired in total. All of the 520 other children in the school were immediately evacuated afterwards.

They were seen making their way across the playground holding hands before being put on buses to leave the scene.

The event was held in a church and members of the community filled the pews to honor the victims

Students were evacuated from the school and were lined up in single file on the school's playing fields before being removed

San Bernardino shared updates on Twitter as the situation unfolded on Monday morning

Police SWAT team walk the area where the estranged couple lived

Jennifer Gordon, 41, a parent of a child at North Park Elementary School shows a card with her name, her daughter's name and the child's teacher's name as she waits to be reunited with her daughter

Parents rushed to the elementary school as news of the emergency spread on Monday morning. Some were able to reunite with their children to take them home but others were told to go to Cajon High School to be reunited

San Bernardino police guides children on to the playground as multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the shooting

Students lined the fence after the fatal shooting. All of the children were taken to California State University San Bernardino

Other children were forced to line up inside the school playground behind fences as police and teachers grappled with the situation. They waved to parents who had rushed to the scene but were not allowed to collect them to be taken home

They were taken to California State University San Bernardino to be counted by school officials and interviewed by police if necessary.

Parents were told to go to Cajon High School to have their IDs checked.

They were then able to be reunited with their children either at the university or at Cajon High School but were told that the process may take up to three hours.

Some parents, who rushed to the scene of the shooting immediately after news of it broke on Monday morning, were able to go home with their children straight away.

And around 3pm local time, officials began releasing the rest of the students to be reunited with their anxious parents.

San Bernardino City Unified School District superintendent Dale Marsden said Anderson was 'known to staff' at the school.

Police circled a blue BMW in the school parking lot after the shooting but they believe the area is now safe

SWAT teams were among those deployed to the school as the situation unfolded on Monday. The scene was declared safe quickly after the shooting

Law enforcement agencies stood watch over the elementary students as they sat on the playground

An armed police man stands guard outside North Park Elementary School after the shooting on Monday morning

There was a large police presence at the elementary school throughout the afternoon as detectives continued investigating

An ambulance was deployed to the school as a precaution and one woman was seen being treated for a hand injury but she was not seriously hurt

An ambulance driver rests her head on her hands outside of the elementary school after responding to the shooting

Parents were directed to Cajon High School and told to bring their IDs to be checked by police and school board staff

At California State University, officials laid out glow sticks and set up a projector to keep the evacuated children entertained while they tried to work through the emergency

One young student described being evacuated from her P.E. class after being reunited with her mother outside the school.

'All of the kids started running out. It was pretty scary,' the child said through tears.

San Bernardino Mayor Carey Davis said the incident was tragic at a press conference on Monday afternoon

Other parents had to settle for catching a glimpse of their children through a fence as they were put onto a bus.

SWAT tanks and anti-terrorism were among forces deployed to the school as the situation unfolded.

San Bernardino Mayor Carey Davis said President Trump had offered his condolences and assistance in a phone call on Monday morning.

'This is a tragic event. It's going to take time for ourr heads, our hearts to heal,' Mayor Davis said.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos shared her condolences for the victims on Monday afternoon.

'My heart and prayers go out to the victims of today's horrible act in San Bernardino & to the whole North Park Elem. School community.

'I want to thank the first responders, teachers and school administrators who helped & protected students who found themselves in harm's way.

'I ask everyone to join me in keeping the victims and all those impacted by today's senseless violence in your prayers.

The San Bernardino Fire Department first reported 'multiple' gun shot wound victims at the school.

North Park Elementary School is just nine miles from the Inland Regional Center where 14 were killed and 22 were injured in the 2015 San Bernardino terrorist attack.

School officials said North Park Elementary would remain closed for at least two days.