(CNN) Two boys were shot dead while sitting in a van at an elementary school parking lot in Northern California, police said.

The victims, ages 11 and 14, were shot early Saturday in the west parking lot of Searles Elementary School, the Union City Police Department said.

They were in the parking lot at 1:26 a.m. when the incident happened, the New Haven Unified School District said in a statement. It said one was a school district student while the other was a former student.

While police said the shooting happened at the school parking lot, the school district said it was in or near the school parking lot.

The superintendent of the New Haven Unified School District, John Thompson, issued a message for the school district's families. He said, "We will have support for our students and staff at the sites where these students attended when school resumes after the Thanksgiving break. We also work closely with the UCPD to ensure that our schools are as safe as they can be."

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