Mother of Saugus High School shooter will not be charged

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has declined to file charges against the mother of the Saugus High School student who opened fire on classmates before shooting and killing himself on Nov. 14, 2019.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department had presented two charges against Mami Matsuura-Berhow, mother of 16-year-old Nathaniel Tennosuke Berhow, the Signal reported Thursday.

“We presented a case on Nathaniel Berhow’s mother to the district attorney’s office and they declined to file charges on her for [contributing to] the delinquency of a minor and criminal storage of a firearm,” Sgt. Guillermo Morales told the Signal.

“There were firearms that were found in the residence that were not locked up,” he added. “That was pretty much it.”

A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office told the Signal that there wasn’t enough evidence to pursue the case and it was rejected on Oct. 23. No additional charges are being considered.

After the shootings, which resulted in the deaths of 15-year-old Gracie Anne Muehlberger, 14-year-old Dominic Blackwell and Berhow, investigators were quick to focus on how Berhow obtained the .45-caliber handgun he used to carry out the attack. Authorities said it was a “ghost gun” without a registration number that was assembled from parts.

The teenager’s late father was an avid hunter and owned several weapons, but it remained unclear how the teenager obtained the ghost gun.