Sacramento High

School Student

Shot On Campus

A 19-year-old high school student reportedly despondent over breaking up with his girlfriend walked on to his continuation school’s campus last month in Sacramento, CA, with a shotgun before being shot and critically wounded him by police.

The student entered campus with a duffel bag that police said contained a pump-action shotgun. Mario Rodriguez entered his classroom and pointed the gun at his teacher while students dialed 911 on their cell phones.

A vice principal entered the classroom within a few minutes and convinced Rodriguez to release the teacher and the students. The vice principal, L.C. Brown, and Rodriguez then exited the building as police arrived on the scene. When Rodriguez pointed his gun at a Sheriff’s deputy, he was shot twice in the chest. Brown was shot in the ankle during the incident, but it was unclear at CSJ press time whether the vice principal was shot by Rodriguez or by police.

One student at the school said Rodriguez had threatened to kill himself the day before the incident, "but nobody really believed him."