California School Shooting

A gun in a student's backpack went off by accident this morning, wounding two teenagers in a classroom at Gardena High School in the Los Angeles metro area, according to reports.

A sophomore had brought the gun to school in his backpack, and it discharged when he dropped the bag during health class, The Associated Press and Los Angeles Times reported, citing police and witnesses.

A 15-year-old girl was shot in the head and a 15-year-old boy was hit in the shoulder, the news reports said.

The student who brought the gun to school fled the classroom after the shootings but was quickly taken into custody, the AP said. CNN footage showed officers escorting a youth dressed in black from the school campus.

"He said, 'I'm sorry,' when the gun went off. It made it appear to the teacher that it was an accident," Deputy Police Chief Patrick Gannon told the AP.

The shootings happened shortly after 10:30 a.m. local time, the Times reported. A teacher called 911 at 10:41 a.m.

Initial reports indicated there were three shooting victims, but police and school officials later said two people, both students, had been shot. The teen who was shot in the head was in critical condition, Gannon said. Both wounded teens were hit by the same bullet.

The school, which has 2,400 students, was temporarily placed on lockdown following the shootings, the Times said.

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A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Unified School District said authorities were investigating to determine how the student with the gun got it into the school. Security officers do check some students with a metal-detecting wand at the entrance, but the checks may be random, the spokeswoman said.

Several parents who rushed to the school to make sure their kids were OK told the AP that there have been racial tensions at the school and that fights between students are a regular occurrence.

One classmate told the Times that the student who brought the gun on campus began carrying the weapon for protection after he got into a fight outside of school.