Student and employee wounded in shooting near Van Nuys charter school; two suspects arrested

A high school student and an employee were wounded in a shooting near a Van Nuys charter school Thursday afternoon, officials said.

Los Angeles police responded to a call of a shooting in the 6800 block of Van Nuys Boulevard near CHAMPS Charter High School of the Arts about 12:10 p.m.

Officials said the shooting occurred between a Starbucks and a Jack in the Box restaurant across the street from the school. Students remain on lockdown as a precaution, LAPD spokesman Sgt. Barry Montgomery said.

Two suspects from 18 to 20 years old fled the scene. Police arrested one suspect about an hour and a half after the shooting and found the second suspect about 2:50 p.m.

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A student cries as her mother picks her up from the reunion gate at CHAMPS Charter High School of the Arts after a shooting near the Van Nuys campus.

  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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LAPD officers search businesses on the 4500 block of Vanowen Street for a suspect in a shooting near the campus of CHAMPS Charter High School of the Arts in Van Nuys.

  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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Charlotte Ernst, center, picks up her daughters Kaia Greenwood, 16, left, and Josephine Greenwood, 14, from the reunion gate at CHAMPS Charter High School of the Arts.

  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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LAPD officers confer in the basement of an apartment building in the 14500 block of Hartland Street across from CHAMPS Charter High School of the Arts after a shooting near the Van Nuys campus.

  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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Parent Kim Higley talks to her daughter, a freshman at CHAMPS Charter High School of the Arts, on the phone after a shooting near the Van Nuys campus.

  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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Parents retrieve their children from the reunion gate at CHAMPS Charter High School of the Arts after a shooting near the Van Nuys campus.

  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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Parents collect their children from the reunion gate at CHAMPS Charter High School of the Arts after a shooting near the Van Nuys campus.

  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

It is too early in the investigation to determine whether the victims were targeted, Montgomery said.

Anna Hoyos, who owns a business beside Jack in the Box, described a scene of chaos as gunfire erupted.

She said she heard two gunshots and then a woman screaming. At the time, several students were outside during the lunch hour, Hoyos said. She could see them running toward the school, terrified.

“You could see that people were confused,” said the owner of Anna’s Business Services. “It was really close. I thought it was here.”

Hoyos said the school has an outdoor patio that faces the Jack in the Box.

After the gunfire, she said, she saw two people on gurneys being taken from the school grounds.

She said she overheard police say that one suspect was hiding in the apartments behind her business.

alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com

Twitter: @r_valejandra

UPDATES:

3:30 p.m.: This article was updated with details on the apprehension of two suspects.

2:45 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Hoyos.

2:10 p.m.: This article was updated with details on the victims.

1:40 p.m.: This article was updated with the arrest of one of the two suspects.

1:10 p.m.: This article was updated with details on the location of the shooting.

This article was originally published at 1:05 p.m.