Shooting suspect pleads not guilty
VISTA, Calif. — An electronics technician accused of wounding two young girls after opening fire at a Southern California elementary school pleaded not guilty Wednesday to attempted murder and assault.
Brendan O'Rourke, 41, showed little emotion and stood with his head down during his initial court appearance on seven counts of attempted murder and seven accounts of assault with a firearm.
Calling O'Rourke "an extreme danger," Superior Court Judge Marshall Hockett set bail at $10 million.
Prosecutor Summer Stephan said the gunman fired at two girls, ages 6 and 7, who "miraculously" escaped with minor wounds, then walked to another playground, where he shot at three second-grade boys and hit a post.
When a school aide asked what he was doing, O'Rourke tried but failed to reload when a bullet got stuck in the gun, Stephan said.
The suspect was captured when one construction worker hit him with a truck and others wrestled away the gun, the prosecutor said.
Stephan told the judge O'Rourke had parked his car and jumped a fence onto campus, carrying a gun, a gas tank and matches.