Students in shock after shooting injures 4 at SF school

Students at San Francisco’s June Jordan School for Equity were stunned and saddened Wednesday as they returned for classes following a shooting the day before that wounded four classmates in the campus’ parking lot.

Police, meanwhile, said they were zeroing in on several suspects who fled after spraying gunfire into a group of teens, causing chaos at the small school in the city’s Excelsior neighborhood, which boasts a curriculum emphasizing social justice and opposition to violence.

Teachers stood silently, holding candles and burning sage, while students gathered in groups outside the school near John McLaren Park, which serves as a refuge for the students, many of whom hail from neighborhoods often plagued by crime.

Of the roughly 250 students enrolled at the school, more than half did not attend classes Wednesday, officials said.

“This is a really difficult time for parents at the school. This is a really difficult time for the community. This is a really difficult time for the students,” said an emotional Heather Lee as she dropped off her son Wednesday. “I went home last night and I hugged and kissed my kids so tightly.”

Before classes began, students scrawled messages in chalk on the pavement of the school’s parking lot, where police said the “targeted shooting” occurred and left four 15-year-old students wounded as school let out around 3:20 p.m. Tuesday.

A woman who declined to give her name holds flowers before classes resume at June Jordan School for Equity in San Francisco, Calif. on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016, following a shooting that wounded four students after school Tuesday. less A woman who declined to give her name holds flowers before classes resume at June Jordan School for Equity in San Francisco, Calif. on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016, following a shooting that wounded four students ... more Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close Students in shock after shooting injures 4 at SF school 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

Police and school officials declined to specify which student or students were targeted in the attack, citing the ongoing investigation.

“What we will continue to do is get to the root cause of this, of why young men feel so hopeless that they would try and take another man’s life so quickly,” said Giulio Sorro, co-director of June Jordan.

One of the victims, an unnamed girl, suffered life-threatening injuries when she was hit by the gunfire, which sent students running in panic and prompted a lockdown at the campus and at the adjoining City Arts and Technology High School.

School officials said Wednesday that the girl was recovering from her injuries.

Three male victims were treated for gunshot wounds and have been released from the hospital, school officials said.

No one has been arrested in the attack, which school administrators said was carried out by “outsiders unaffiliated with the school.”

Capt. Joe McFadden of the San Francisco Police Department’s Ingleside Station said police were reviewing surveillance video taken from the campus and were “close to making multiple arrests” in the shooting.

“Hopefully, we’ll have some closure on this real soon,” he said. “Our main priority is making sure the parents and the students feel safe.”

Grief counselors were on hand to speak with students while officers on foot walked around the campus, working to put students and parents at ease and prevent further violence. At least two police cars were parked near the school when classes let out for the day Wednesday.

Lee said she had “no apprehension” about dropping off her child.

Students at the school, which focuses on equity and social justice issues, trickled into class, many still dazed from the shooting.

Meili Rubio, a sophomore, said she is a friend of the female victim and was focused on doing what she could to help her recover.

“It was shocking,” she said of the moments after the gunfire erupted. “It was very shocking.”

At least one shooter opened fire on the group, sending students, including the bleeding victims, scrambling into the school for cover.

In the chaotic aftermath, police and school officials were unsure whether they were dealing with a gunman inside the school and immediately whisked students into classrooms and locked down the school and adjoining campus.

Scores of officers responded within minutes, police said. And emergency personnel charged into what they thought was an active shooting situation, with no protective gear, to reach the victims quickly, said Lt. Jonathan Baxter, a spokesman for the San Francisco Fire Department.

Police later determined that at least one shooter fled on foot down Brazil Avenue with a group of three other young men. Officials said the shooter, who was not identified, was 15 years old.

“There has never been something like this that has happened before” at the school, sophomore Nalayah Linton said. “It really just made me terrified. It really just made me scared.”

Interim Police Chief Toney Chaplin said city health workers will be helping students process any residual trauma and get “them any help they may need.”

“This is a city that really tries to protect the youth and look out for them,” he said Wednesday at an unrelated City Hall event. “When something like this happens, it hits all of us.”

June Jordan was designed to be small and provides individualized attention to its students, many of whom are minorities and come from low-income areas where violence is prevalent.

“What happened (Tuesday) afternoon was tragic for us adults in this space who have worked so hard to provide a sense of safety for these kids,” said the school’s co-director, Jessica Huang, standing in front of the campus in a Black Lives Matter T-shirt.

Administrators were mulling whether to shorten the day’s schedule while encouraging students to talk about the shooting and the broader themes of what causes violence.

“This is my home,” said 17-year-old senior Maria Zaragoza. “I know students that stay here until school closes because the longer it takes to get home the better.”

Zaragoza lives in the city’s Ingleside neighborhood, where she said crime in common. The school for her, like many others, is their place away from the trouble in their neighborhoods.

“It’s going to take lots of time to get over this — to heal from this, and it will hurt every day,” she said.

Chronicle staff writer Jill Tucker contributed to this report