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At Least Five Killed In Mass Shooting At A California Primary School

Two children have also been wounded.

At least five people were killed on Tuesday in a shooting spree in a rural area of Northern California that began at a home and ended at an elementary school, local media has reported.

Law enforcement officers shot the attacker dead, Sacramento television station KCRA reported, citing a sheriff's official.

The Tehama County Sheriff's Department told the Los Angeles Times there were at least five separate crime scenes and the department was currently trying to assess the number of casualties.

A number of students were airlifted for medical care after gunfire at Rancho Tehama School near the community of Corning, Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston told KCRA.

Officers were sent to multiple scenes in the area. Johnston could not say how many people in total had been killed or wounded, but told the station, "I know of at least three deaths."

Shots were fired at the school and some people were injured at the campus but no students or staff members died, Corning Union Elementary School District administrative assistant Jeanine Quist said by phone.

The area is about 190 km north of Sacramento.

A representative for the Tehama County Sheriff's Office could not immediately be reached for comment.

A parent, Coy Ferreira, said he was dropping off his daughter when he heard gunshots.

"One of the teachers came running out of the building and told us to all run inside because there was a shooter coming," Ferreira told Redding, California, television station KRCR.

"So we all hurried up and ran and told the students to get in the classrooms."

Once inside a classroom, Ferreira said he heard gunfire for over 20 minutes and a student in the room was struck.

The shooting spree began at a home and ended at the school, KCRA reported.

Brian Flint told local media his neighbor was the shooter, and that the neighbor had stolen his truck.

The shooter's name has not been released and it was not disclosed if the attacker was a man or a woman.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles and Peter Szekely and Daniel Wallis in New York; Editing by Chris Reese, Phil Berlowitz and Frances Kerry)

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