Jessica Hagstrom

In yet another active shooter incident to strike the nation following the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, shots broke out at a high school in Taft, California yesterday morning when a gunman opened fire.

An agricultural town located approximately 40 miles from Bakersfield, California, the Taft active shooter event occurred after a 16-year-old student walked onto the school's campus armed with a shotgun and fired multiple rounds in a classroom filled with around 30 students. A teacher was able to sucessfully disarm the shooter, and police arrived and took him into custody, having seized his firearm and about 20 extra rounds in his pocket. The FBI assisted authorities as law enforcement officers cleared the school.  

The active shooter told police he was targeting a fellow student who had bullied him, though confirmation of said bulling have yet to emerge. The wounded student was flown to a hospital in Bakersfield in critical condition, suffering a gunshot wound to the upper right chest.

In light of the recent Connecticut shooting incident, and now the incident in Taft, several schools and institutions across the nation have opted to engage in Active Shooter Response Training. To assist this effort, MSA Security has developed The MSA Golden 15—a strategy designed to help schools improve security and survive active shooter events such as the one at Sandy Hook.

Vice President Joe Biden, who has been charged with assembling a task force to examine gun control laws, is slated to submit recommendations on curbing gun violence on Tuesday.

Schools and educators interested in receiving a free security assessment can request a consultation with MSA Security.

(Image credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times / January 10, 2013 )

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