Gardena High student had brought gun to school previously for protection, friend says [Updated]

The Gardena High School student who police believe accidentally discharged a gun and wounded two other students had brought a weapon to campus “a couple times” before, one of his friends said Tuesday.

Andrea Tibbs, who described herself as a “good friend” of the student, said that he started bringing the gun to campus to protect himself after he had been in a fight outside of school –- an incident, she said, that made him fear for his safety.

Imami Moses, another classmate who knows the student, said, “I saw him today. It was just a normal day. He’s always been nice to me. He’s always been cool.”

The two students were injured when the gun discharged about 10:40 a.m. One girl was shot in the head, and is in grave condition at a hospital. The other victim, a boy, was wounded in the neck. [Updated 2:50 p.m. Tuesday: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said the boy was wounded in the shoulder.] According to Robert Alaniz, an LAUSD spokesman, the gun discharged when a 10^th grade boy either dropped or bumped the backpack containing the weapon.

Sources told The Times that after the gun went off, the student who brought it to school apologized to his classmates before running out of the classroom.

He surrendered to police in a dramatic end to a standoff.

Officials let students out of the high school, at 1301 W. 182nd St., around 2 p.m.

L.A. Unified Police Chief Steve Zipperman said, “It appears to be a possible accidental discharge.” He thinks the gun could have accidentally gone off. When asked about how the gun could have gotten past the school’s metal detectors, Zipperman said officials were looking into how the backpack got into the school. [Updated, 3:45 p.m.: An earlier version of this post incorrectly identified Zipperman as an LAPD captain.]

Tibbs, the student, said that more needs to be done to make Gardena High safer.

“This school is crazy,” she said. “It’s just too much. Honestly, we should have searches all the time. There are a couple students here who come here with guns.”

RELATED:

Photos: Gardena High School shooting

Worried parents call for more security at Gardena High

Eyewitness recounts Gardena High shooting on Twitter: 'I’m freaked out'

-- Sam Allen and Andrew Blankstein

Comments

[mocus11]

Sarah Palin's gotta be responsible right morons?

[Lou]

Yes, mocus11, I agree with you that Sarah Palin a right-leaning moron.

[natalie]

I think it is crazy that a 16 year old boy could get past the metal detector. That boy is a little crazy to be going around with a gun and shooting people that is not right.

[horsesforcourses]

The kid was just practicing his right to have a concealed weapon in school, as espoused by the looney-toons right.

[RUJoking?!]

The student brought a gun to school several times, evaded metal detectors, told other students & then 'accidentally' shot not one but two of them.

Reminds me of that kooky professor a while back that killed several colleagues. We later learned she 'accidentally' discharged a shotgun in her Boston home as a teenager, then 'accidentally' shot her brother in the chest, reloaded, & shot him a second time.

Accidents, of course...

[Robert NO longer in LA]

How about his brain-dead parents DOING TIME, WITH HIM??? What? He isn't THEIR responsibility?

[liz]

dear dumb girl below me,

read the article. it was accidental. he was not "going around with a gun and shooting people."

[AMR]

I urge readers to exercise extra caution when posting comments on this article: students will be reading this when they get home from school, and it appears all involved students are well liked.

I feel absolutely terrible for the boy who had the gun, this was an accident due to childish negligence (a gun in a backpack??? Come on!). Yes, he should NOT have a gun especially at school, but he also should not have to worry about being attacked on his way home. It is tragic for everyone involved.

[headjazz]

No parental supervision whatsoever! That goes for the thugs and gang bangers as well as these kids. This kid was afraid for his safety, so he chose to carry, hell I wish I could solve my fear problems that way! The truth is that if you are growing up in the "barrio" or the "hood" and look smart and intelligent you are going to get crap from all the losers who want you to be a piece of crap like them. If I had children I would rather starve than raise them in those type of places!

[SameStuffDifferentDay]

....and the writer couldn’t come up with a way to blame Sarah Palin? What’s happening to journalism in this country?

[mike]

As a proud card-carrying member of the NRA, I'm shocked at the number of gun accidents. Tucson, Columbine, and so on. Terrible. We need to prevent these accidents.....no.....wait, maybe not

[myles]

This is what you get in Gardena and Arizona with all the 2dAmendment crazies who beleive that everybody should have guns. Maybe the kid can even get off if he sells the white conservative jury that this is a 2d Amendment issue, like the nuts who parade their guns at the Starbucks stores.

[brandon]

im a student there and as hard as it is, i can believe that some kid brought a gun to school...

[gilrod]

And to think we have public office holders who want to make it legal for college kids only 2, 3, yrs older than this kid to carry guns to class, to sporting events and to parties.

It is stupid beyond words.

It recalls an incident when I was in college. I was walking about 30 ft behind a student I recognized as a member of the football team. We had just entered a bldg when a young man coming in the opposite direction was distracted in some way and bumped into the football player. Instantly the football player began pummeling the student who bumped him in a clearly accidental way!

As quick as he began throwing punches, the football player walked off, leaving his victim relatively unhurt, but stunned.

I wonder what might have happened if one or both had been armed.

[good grief]

You are an illiterate ass Natalie. Did you not read the story? The boy brought the gun to school because he feared for his life. It wasn't right but it is not right when our children cannot go to school without fearing for their lives when they go to school. It was a tragic accident for all involved.

[dave]

These no future kids who know how to be profane, but can't speak english, are scared to death of dying at the hands of their peers. It's all about bein' reel, bein' grown and all that mess. Boys are really the losers here, with their vid game, gangsta mentality that gives them permission to be violent. Wake up kids life is good, it "aint no good" (double negative teen speak). All of 'em polluted by media opportunists out to get theirs at the expense of your precious boys.

[D]

Still waiting for the gun rights crowd to argue how more people with guns would have solved this. A tragedy, but too many guns that are readily available make such accidents so common.

[Bart]

This is a great example of why gun rights extremists are wrong. An accidental discharge could happen in a theater, restaurant, church or college campus, yet the extremists want people to be able to carry concealed weapons anywhere.
It also shows why anyone who carries a gun needs to be trained in proper carrying procedures.

Carrying a gun is not an answer to bullying. We have to keep the good students safe from the gangbangers and thugs.

[John Gotti]

No one Blamed Sarhra Palin yet?

[Went to Gardena in 89]

I went to Gardena in 1989 and it was CRAZY then!!! I have uncles who attended Gardena in the late 70's and it was CRAZY then too! There should be searches on every single student. Not just a metal detector, but actual searches.

[Disgusted]

What difference does it make that the shooter was well-liked? He should be charged as adult and if any of the victims die, he should be charged with murder. Where are the parents of this CRIMINAL? They are responsible for supervising this misfit! An innocent girl is fighting for her life and all she did was go to school. I hope they throw the shooter in jail and let Bubba educate him!

[sidearmgraduate]

If any of you have ever been through intensive side arm training you know there is no such thing as an accidental discharge. It is defined as negligent discharge. This was a case of unintended negligence.

[Abhi Buch]

A neighborhood where students going home from school are at risk, a school where a student brings a loaded gun to protect himself, every body calling it an "accident"....we have slid a long way back to cave-man status. The discharge of the weapon was accidental, but all else about the neighborhood and the school is not. We live in a jungle, and it's eat or be eaten, kill or be killed for a lot of kids. No wonder we have a murder rate 44 times that of the UK; we have 15 times as many guns per thousand population, too. The NRA is, of course, as holy as the Church: NO ONE can offend it or go against its warped interpretation of the Second amendment: even the Supreme Court did not dare read the English of the words in that amendment correctly. By negating the first part of that Constitutional Bill of Rights statement, the judges of the SC effectively erased all the words before the first comma, thereby illegally amending it. That power belongs to the legislature and the individual States, not to Nine judges in black robes. Citizens have the right to own and bear arms BECAUSE a well regulated militia is necessary to the safety of the State....not for ANY OTHER REASON. This was drafted in the late 18th Century, when states raised militias from common citizenz who had to own their personal firearms, not so much to conduct war agaist the Union but to maintain order within the state and to discourage intrusions by neighboring states. It was a time of great suspicion of states of each other. A militia was jot a standing army, but was called up as needed. Now we have a State National Guard. If you think you still need a gun for self-defense, then register it, go through a thorough background check and show that you are a mature, sane human being and a good citizen. That scares the NRA? To hell with them Too many die for their moronic cause.

[westsidejesse]

Some of your comments are so funny..."blame the parents"..."we need to ban all guns"..."blame Arizona"...really guys, really???

Should a kid bring a gun to school?...of course not.

Should a kid even be in possession of a gun?...of course not.

Do accidents happen?....YES.

[karl]

IT IS A REAL SHAME THAT TODAY AFTER A FIGHT,SOMEBODY HAS TO GET A GUN. THE RESULT: INNOCENT PEOPLE GET HURT!!!

I HOPE THE SORRY PUNK SEES THIS.