Shooter plotted deadly California attack at library, authorities say

The suspect in a deadly shooting inside a Northern California public library scoped out the scene before entering and killing two patrons, authorities said.

The shooting at the library in Chico, California, unfolded the evening of June 22 shortly after 5 p.m. local time when an 18-year-old suspected gunman opened fire on the library goers.

Two men were killed. They were identified as 74-year-old Robert Johnson of nearby Orland and 46-year-old Jacob Hull of Chico. A young girl, whose age and name were not disclosed, was with Hull at the library and had minor injuries from broken glass, said Chico Police Chief Billy Aldridge. She was treated at a hospital and released to family, he said.

The suspect was taken into custody and faces two charges of murder, while the district attorney's office considers whether additional attempted murder charges can be brought. He is expected in court on June 25. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.

The teen had delved into an online world of social media surrounding the 1999 Columbine High School attack, and investigators learned in interviews with him after his arrest and from the clothes he was wearing that he was a fan of social media involving that type of shooting, authorities said. He decided to act at the library close to home.

"A library should be a place of joy," said Butte County Director of Libraries Misty Wright. "It should be a place where people feel safe, and yesterday, that sense of safety was shattered."

What happened in the Chico library shooting?

Police received the first reports of a shooting via a 911 call at about 5:12 p.m. on June 22, Aldridge said. On the line, dispatchers could hear screaming and gunshots, he said.

Within two minutes, the first officer arrived on the scene and police set up a secure perimeter around the library, Aldridge said. While police were entering the library, the suspect exited from the east side of the building, where the perimeter had already been established and was taken into custody without any force from officers, he said.

The suspect was in custody at 5:16 p.m., Aldridge said.

Investigators at the scene included multiple local agencies and the FBI. They learned that the suspect parked his car in front of the library and first went inside and did a walk through of the building. He then allegedly returned to his car and retrieved a shotgun, Special Agent in Charge Sid Patel of the FBI's Sacramento office said.

Near the entrance to the library, the suspect allegedly shot an adult in the leg, and then shot him once more in the head, Patel said. Another victim was shot in the head further inside the library, he said.

"These were ruthless acts, true evil in my eyes," Patel said.

In total, about eight rounds were fired, Aldridge said. Two other firearms were also found in the suspect's car; all the firearms were registered within his family, officials said.

It's unclear how many people were inside the library at the time. Library staff were credited with helping get patrons to safe locations inside the building.

Suspect wanted to commit Columbine-style shooting: Police

The suspect was identified as 18-year-old Bradley Scott Sayer, a resident of Chico who had just graduated from Chico High School earlier in June, Patel said. The suspect planned out his attack, and specifically chose a place that would be confined and populated, Patel said.

"The suspect was a fan, and a fan for some time, of social media involving Columbine-type shootings," Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsey said in a June 23 news conference. He "unfortunately made a deep dive into that social media community, and obviously lost his way in that and decided yesterday to act and copycat that particular unfortunate part of our society right now." 

Patel said the suspect was wearing a T-shirt that resembled a shirt worn by one of the shooters in the Columbine attack, which on April 20, 1999, left more than a dozen people dead at the Colorado high school.

Aldridge said he doesn't want to put a spotlight on the shooter: "He does not deserve to be recognized," he said.