Deadly shooting at US elementary school

Investigators described how a man estranged from his wife shot and killed her on Monday in a special-needs classroom at the North Park elementary school in San Bernardino, some 105 kilometers (65 miles) east of Los Angeles. The shooter, who was later identified as 53-year-old Cedrick Anderson, then turned the gun on himself.

The pair had only been married a few months but had been separated for a few weeks, local police chief Jarrod Burguan told a news conference.

Earlier, he wrote on Twitter that four people were shot in total. Two male students, who were believed to have been caught in the gunfire unintentionally, were taken to hospital. One of them - an eight-year-old boy - later died from their injuries.

The school's roughly 600 students, between kindergarten age and sixth grade, were quickly evacuated to another educational facility, officials said.

San Bernardino City Unified School District spokeswoman Maria Garcia also told local news broadcaster KNBC-TV that the shooting was believed to be the result of a domestic dispute. 

"We believe the teacher knew who the shooter was," Garcia said.

Gun violence is a major issue in the US, where the right to bear arms is protected by the country's constitution.

San Bernardino made international headlines in December 2015 after a mass shooting carried out by husband and wife Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, who killed 14 people.

se,mm/jm (AP, AFP, Reuters)