Police in California have released new details about a deadly shooting at a public library, an attack that authorities have described as a Columbine-style massacre. According to investigators, two adults were killed and a young girl was injured in the shooting at the Butte County Library in Chico. A teenage suspect was taken into custody at the scene and is now facing murder charges over the attack.
Authorities have now named the two people who were killed. According to police, the victims were 74-year-old Robert Johnson and 46-year-old Jacob Hull. Investigators said they believe the gunman acted alone and that they had found no connection between the suspect and the two men who died inside the library.
Police described how the attack unfolded. According to investigators, the suspect walked through the library before returning with a shotgun and firing eight rounds in what officers called a Columbine-style massacre. The account of the gunman moving through the building and then opening fire pointed to an attack that police are treating with the utmost seriousness.
The suspect was identified as 18-year-old Bradley Scott Sayer, who police said was arrested as he fled out the back of the library. According to the coverage, Sayer had graduated from the local high school earlier this month, and investigators said he had shown an interest in social media involving Columbine-type shootings. Police reiterated their belief that he acted alone.
A young girl was among those hurt in the shooting. According to the account, someone at the scene acted to protect the injured child during the attack. The girl has yet to be named, according to her family, and authorities have focused on her recovery as the investigation into the shooting continues.
Sayer is due to make his first court appearance, where he is expected to be charged with two counts of murder in the first degree. With the victims now identified and the suspect in custody, attention turns to the court process and to the question of what drove an 18-year-old to carry out an attack on people he did not know inside a public library.