San bernardino school shooting
Students who were evacuated after a shooting at North Park Elementary School walk past well-wishers to be reunited with their waiting parents at a high school in San Bernardino, California, U.S, April 10, 2017.Reuters

Three people died, including the attacker and an 8-year-old student, in a school in California's San Bernardino area on Monday. A husband shot dead his wife, who was a teacher at the school, and injured two students at the Park Elementary School, San Bernardino Police chief Jarrod Burguan told the media.

One of the students later died at a hospital, Burguan said. The attacker, Cedric Anderson, 53, also shot himself.

"This is a tragic incident that has befallen our city," San Bernardino Police Lt. Michael Madden told reporters.  

Anderson, a resident of Riverside, was armed with a large caliber revolver when he walked into the classroom where his wife Elaine Smith, 53, was teaching. 

He opened fire without a word.  

"He came in, and very, very quickly upon entering the classroom started shooting," Burguan said.

Two students were hit by bullets as they were standing behind Smith, the police chief said. The student who succumbed to the injuries was an 8-year-old boy. He died at the Loma Linda University Medical Center after being airlifted from the school. 

San bernardino school shooting
A student who was evacuated after a shooting at North Park Elementary School is embraced after groups of them were reunited with parents waiting at a high school in San Bernardino, California, U.S. April 10, 2017.Reuters

The other student, a 9-year-old boy, was stable, the hospital said. 

The police said that the target of the attack was Smith and not the two children. 

There were 15 students from grades one to four in the special needs classroom and two adults. 

Anderson had gone to meet Smith in the classroom and there was no indication that the gun was visible when he entered the premises of the school, said San Bernardino Police Capt. Ron Maass, the incident commander. 

He had told the front office, where he was known, that he came to drop off something with his wife.