Guilty Plea in School Shooting

An El Cajon student who wounded five people in a shooting rampage on a high school campus in March pleaded guilty Thursday and agreed to a life term with a possibility of parole.

Under the agreement reached with prosecutors, Jason A. Hoffman will serve at least 17 years for discharging a firearm. After this sentence is completed, he will begin serving a life term for the attempted murder of Granite Hills High School Vice Principal Daniel Barnes.

Hoffman, 18, appeared grim throughout the hearing. He stared straight ahead, ignoring the two members of his legal team. He did not offer an explanation for the shootings, responding with “yes” and “I admit” several times when Superior Court Judge Herbert J. Exarhos quizzed the teen about the plea agreement.

On March 22, Hoffman arrived at Granite Hills High School about 1 p.m., armed with a Mossberg pump-action 12-gauge shotgun and a .22-caliber pistol. Authorities said he fired at least eight rounds from the shotgun but did not use the pistol.

Hoffman fired one round at Barnes but missed. But he wounded three students and two teachers before he was shot in the jaw by El Cajon Police Officer Rich Agundez Jr. and then arrested. Agundez, a campus officer, fired five rounds from his service revolver. One of the bullets disabled Hoffman’s shotgun. The officer was not hurt.

After the hearing, San Diego County Deputy Dist. Atty. Dan Lamborn said Barnes “was perplexed why he was targeted by Hoffman.”

On Thursday, Hoffman also pleaded guilty to five counts of assault with a firearm for wounding the students and teachers. His sentences on the five counts will run concurrently with the other sentences.

Lamborn said Hoffman will have to serve at least seven years of his life sentence before he is eligible for a parole hearing, meaning he will spend at least 24 years behind bars.

But Lamborn predicted Hoffman will be an old man if ever released on parole.

“His parole agent hasn’t been born,” Lamborn said.

If the case had gone to trial, prosecutors said, Hoffman could have received 54 years to life if convicted on all counts.

He will be sentenced on Nov. 8.

The shooting occurred 17 days after another rampage at Santana High School in Santee, seven miles away. In that incident, Charles Andrew Williams, 15, shot and killed two students and wounded 13 people. Williams is facing murder charges and the possibility of being tried as an adult.