A shooting inside a public library in northern California is being described by police as an attempted mass killing inspired by the Columbine school shooting. Authorities in Chico say 18-year-old Bradley Scott Sayer opened fire Monday afternoon inside the Chico branch of the Butte County Library, killing two adults and wounding a child before fleeing out a back door and being arrested without further gunfire. Chico police say Sayer appeared to be seeking a "Columbine High School massacre-type of shooting" and that investigators have found no prior connection between him and the victims, 46-year-old Jacob Hull and 74-year-old Robert Johnson, NBC News reports.
The child's injuries are described as not life-threatening. Authorities have not released her name. Law enforcement officials say Sayer walked through the building, then went to his vehicle and returned with a shotgun, the AP reports. Sid Patel, special agent in charge at the FBI's Sacramento office, said Sayer was wearing a T-shirt with the words "natural selection," the same slogan worn by Eric Harris, one of the Columbine killers. Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsey said Sayer, who graduated from Chico High School earlier this month, had been a fan of the Columbine shooting "for a long time" on social media.
Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 13 students and one teacher in the 1999 Columbine High School attack. Most of the victims were killed in the school's library. Bayer is being held on two counts of murder. All Butte County library branches were closed Tuesday, and officials from the county and Gov. Gavin Newsom offered condolences to the community and praised the rapid police response. Chico Police Chief Billy Aldridge said Sayer was taken into custody within 4 minutes of the first 911 call on Monday.
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