Gunman opens fire with AK-47 in New Orleans school

NEW ORLEANS -- Gunmen armed with an AK-47 rifle and a handgun opened fire in a packed high school gym Monday, killing a 15-year-old boy and wounding three teenage girls in a spray of more than 30 bullets that sent students scrambling for cover.

Four suspects, ranging in age from 15 to 19, were arrested in a sweep of the neighborhood near John McDonogh High School, about a mile north of the French Quarter. Police chief Eddie Compass said he did not know if the suspects attended the school.

At least 200 students were in the gymnasium when the four suspects entered the building. The victim was apparently seated on the bleachers with other students when the gunmen confronted him. They shot repeatedly, striking the victim in the head and body and sending panicked students screaming.

Police identified the victim as Jonathan Williams. Police had not determined a motive Monday night, but students said the shooting was apparently gang related and may have been retaliation for a previous fight.

'I started running'

"They started shooting and I started running," said ninth-grader Garick Jacob, who was in the gym when the shooting began. "I was really scared."

The gunman managed to slip out of the gym and the suspects were arrested about three blocks away. Two were in a getaway vehicle and two others were at a nearby house.

It was not immediately clear how the gun got through metal detectors and guards at the school. Students and school security officers said there was a hole in the fence near the gym.

School board member Elliot Willard said students told him that the boy was the target and the girls were accidental victims.

Leon Myles, a 17-year-old junior, said he knew Williams. "He was an OK guy," he said. "It was probably gang stuff."

Charity hospital spokesman Jerry Romig said a 15-year-old girl had surgery because a bullet went through both her legs. Michelle Brown, 16, and Trakeido Barracks, 16, were both treated and released. They were grazed by bullets.

Christian Ransfer, 16, remained in the hospital with stomach injuries she suffered when she was trampled as students fled.

Word of the shooting swept through the school where many students had radios and cell phones. In the computer class, students used their Internet terminals to read reports of the shooting.

Parents rushed to the school only to find their way blocked by the police lines. Darlene Claiborn said her daughter called her from inside a classroom on a cell phone.

"How can this happen in a school?" she demanded. "They have guards in there. They're supposed to have security."

Anthony Amato, school system superintendent who has been on the job only since February, tried to calm parents by saying that officers had swept through the school and that the students were safe. He was repeatedly interrupted by cries of "where was the guard?"

When Amato said parents could go inside to get their children, the crowd rushed forward and tried to squeeze through the school door in a chaotic crush of pushing and shoving.

Many were still outside four hours later. When a group of adults tried to slip under the police tape, they were shoved back by officers, setting off a round of shouts and complaints.

Councilman Oliver Thomas, among city officials who went to the scene, said it was understandable that the parents were upset.

"He didn't go through the system. We don't have electrical fences around the building. How do you stop a kid if he wants to get in? He'll find a way."

In another unrelated campus shooting Monday, a gun went off in a Shreveport school -- apparently accidentally -- while one student was showing it to another, hitting the second boy in the stomach, officials said. The student who brought the gun ran away, and police were looking for him. The wounded student was in serious condition.