Six people were killed and three others wounded after a disgruntled student walked into a classroom at a small independent university located near the Oakland airport and opened fire.
Police confirmed that a suspect was taken in custody in the parking lot of a shopping mall in nearby Alameda. Sources have told Oakland TV station KTVU that the gunman walked into a Safeway store and told someone he had just shot several people.
Alameda police then arrived and took him in without further incident.
"We do believe we have detained an individual responsible for the shooting at the college," Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said.
The shooting took place at Oikos University, located at 7850 Edgewater -- in an area of warehouses near the Oakland International Airport. sources have told KTVU that the gunman had recently been kicked out of a class at the school.
Deborah Lee, 25, a student from China who is studying at Oikos, said she was in an ESL class when she heard four or five pops that sounded like firecrackers.
She said her teacher left the room to see what was going on, then she heard a person yell, "Someone has a gun!"
Her teacher told the students to run, and everyone ran out of the classroom and left the school.
The Oakland Fire Department said it received the first call of the shooting around 10:50 a.m.
Oakland City Council President Larry Reid said he has been told by police that six people had died and three were wounded. Several victims were transported to Highland Hospital for treatment while the bodies of several of the dead covered by tarps were lined up on the grass in front of the school.
Police said eyewitnesses described the gunman as a male, Asian, heavy build and wearing khaki clothing.
