Taft Union High School shooting

On January 10, 2013, a mass shooting occurred at Taft Union High School in Taft, California, United States. The perpetrator was a student, 16-year-old Bryan Oliver, who shot at numerous students and injured one, as well as a teacher. Oliver was talked down by two teachers, including the one that was injured, and eventually arrested by arriving police. He was sentenced to 27 years and 4 months in prison.

Shooting
During first period, at approximately 9:00 A.M., 16-year-old Bryan Oliver, a student at the school entered a second-floor science classroom containing twenty-eight students. He shot and seriously injured a student and grazed a teacher to the head. Oliver also shot at another student. The injured teacher and campus supervisor, Kim Lee Fields, manage to persuade Oliver to drop his shotgun and surrender. Students were evacuated from the room before police arrived and arrested Oliver. The school was placed on lockdown and students were later picked up by their parents.

Victims
No students or teachers were killed in the shooting. There were two injured, a student and a teacher. The student was 16-year-old Bowe Cleveland, who was shot in the chest and treated at Kern Medical Center. The teacher was 39-year-old Ryan Heber, who was hit in the head with a stray pellet. Oliver also shot at 16-year-old Jacob Nichols but missed.

Perpetrator
Bryan Oliver, 16, was a disgruntled student who had complained numerous times before the shooting about being bullied. He claimed both Cleveland and Nichols had bullied him due to his red hair and him being homosexual and reportedly had a hit list of targets. A year prior in 2012, Oliver was suspended for confessing to friends about a dream he had in which he donned a set of armor and entered the school auditorium, "killing all the bullies". Oliver stole the 12-gauge shotgun he used from his older brother, Jared Oliver. Oliver took a plea deal in the criminal case and was sentenced to 27 years and 4 months in prison.

Aftermath
After Oliver was sentenced, Cleveland and his attorney, Daniel Rodriguez, filed a lawsuit against the Taft Union High School District, claiming the school had multiple warnings of Oliver's plans but did nothing to act upon them. They also stated the school was lackluster in security by leaving a gate unlocked that allowed Oliver to get through undetected, as well as the over thirty security cameras around the school not being monitored. Cleveland won, being awarded $3.8 million in damages. Oliver is currently imprisoned in the Pelican Bay State Prison.