Tragedy, Terror and Heroism

By GREG KRIKORIAN and MICHAEL KRIKORIAN

March 6, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITERS

One young man fell in the restroom and never rose again, struck in the head by a bullet. A school security guard felt his body pierced by four shots but miraculously survived.

A wounded student teacher dragged himself along the ground, unable to move his legs but wanting desperately to flee, until someone lifted him onto a food cart and rolled him away. Many victims were rushed in wailing ambulances to hospital rooms where they were greeted by weeping parents who found boundless joy in the simple words: “superficial wounds.”

In all, two students were killed and 13 people wounded in the morning shooting rampage at Santana High School. The victims included at least two members of the school track team and several students who filled their free time doing stunts on skateboards.

Two of the wounded were adults--security guard Pete Ruiz and student teacher Tim Estes--and the rest were students at the suburban campus of low-slung buildings. Some of the wounded students were aspiring artists or members of rock bands.

The dead were identified by authorities as Bryan Zuckor, 14, and Randy Gordon, 17.

Gordon was a captain of the school’s track team, a friend said. He was planning to join the Navy soon. Zuckor was a “bright kid” who was close to his mother, according to a family friend.

Like the 15-year-old suspect in the shooting, Zuckor was described by friends as a skateboarder.

Zuckor’s mother, Michelle, saw him off to school Monday morning.

“It was just like every other usual school day,” said a family friend. “She was expecting him to come back home. . . . Bryan was just a regular little boy. He was a bright boy who did what his mom asked him to do.”

Neighbor Ruth Ashcraft said Monday that she worries for Zuckor’s mother, who has been raising two much smaller children, including a toddler, on her own. “Oh my God, what is she going to do? He was her rock.”

Trevor Edwards, an 11th-grader wounded in the neck, frequented the same skateboard park as Charles Andrew Williams, the 15-year-old suspect, often staying until dark. Edwards had guitars and an amplifier in his apartment where he would jam with friends, students said.

“He’s cool,” said Sean Breese, 18, a senior. “He just fits in.”

Edwards had some run-ins with Williams, including a recent one when Edwards objected to Williams spitting at the skate park, a friend said.

Barry Gibson, an 18-year-old artist and aspiring film student, was hit in the leg during what his family and witnesses said was an act of heroism: After fleeing the scene at the sound of gunfire, he ran back when he saw a friend, Travis Tate-Gallegos, tumble to the ground.

Racing back with friends Roy Elliott and Mike Ashworth, Gibson found Tate-Gallegos rolled over on his side, spitting up blood from what turned out to be a gunshot wound to the mouth.

“We were asking him, ‘Are you OK?’ ” Gibson said. He heard a second burst of gunfire and began running.

“I got hit in the leg,” Gibson said. “My leg went numb. . . .”

Looking back, Gibson saw Tate-Gallegos struggle to his feet and, still bleeding, run from the hallway. “As I was crawling through the hall, I found a door to the library but it was locked,” Gibson said. He crawled into the doorway for cover.

The victims were taken to four area medical centers, where teary-eyed family members and friends rushed in their wake.

At Sharp Memorial Hospital, 16-year-old Breanne Schaum was crying with her mother over the fate of a friend, Edwards.

The avid skateboarder, whose rock band is called Experience, was in fair condition, she said.

“This is crazy. It shouldn’t be happening,” Schaum said. “I personally don’t feel like I can go to school anymore.”

In all, six male victims--five students and Estes, a special education instructor and assistant football coach--were taken to Sharp Memorial in San Diego. Two were treated and released.

The other four remained hospitalized overnight, including Edwards. Hospital spokeswoman Eileen Cornish said the four were being treated for gunshot wounds to the back, leg and neck areas.

“Columbine taught us a lot about how to handle a situation like this,” said Sharp Memorial trauma nurse Gina Zawetski.

Zawetski added that the students were “very upset, they were crying . . . but they were holding it together. The kids were very tough and very strong.”

At UC San Diego Medical Center, Raymond Serrato, 17, was recovering from a gunshot wound that punctured his lung, said his uncle, Dennis Serrato.

Serrato is on the Santana football team and was scheduled to begin volleyball team practice Monday. Serrato’s wound was not life-threatening, his uncle said, so the doctors decided not to take the bullet out until it pushes itself to a better position for surgery.

“My nephew said he doesn’t know what happened,” Dennis Serrato said. “He said he saw everybody running and ducking so he ducked too. That’s all he remembers.”

After being shot, Serrato stumbled into his government classroom, friends said. “He dove through the door saying ‘My back hurts,’ ” said Justin Ashworth, 17. “He was saying he couldn’t breathe. Blood was coming out of his shirt.”

Another athlete, Scott Marshall, didn’t know he had been shot.

A 6-foot-1, 160-pound junior, Marshall competes in the shotput and discus. He ran across the school’s quad to a counseling center with a bullet in his back.

“He told me he never ran so fast in his life,” said his father, Cary Marshall.

Physical education teacher John Bobof said he has taught several of the victims and they are all great kids.

“I’ve been at a lot of high schools,” Bobof said. “I would not trade our students population with any other school in the nation. I guess this goes to show this could happen anywhere in the nation.”

Times staff writer Hector Tobar contributed to this story.

Times staff writers contributing to Santee coverage: Nick Anderson, Bettina Boxall, Matthew Ebnet, Ken Ellingwood, Elaine Gale, Jessica Garrison, John M. Glionna, Scott Gold, Carla Hall, Bonnie Harris, Duke Helfand, Peter Y. Hong, Robert Lee Hotz, Greg Krikorian, Michael Krikorian, Richard Marosi, Terry McDermott, Josh Meyer, Maloy Moore, Monte Morin, James Rainey, George Ramos, H.G. Reza, Beth Shuster, T.J. Simers, Doug Smith, Erin Texeira, Hector Tobar, Ken Weiss, Nancy Wride, Kimi Yoshino and Nora Zamichow.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Victims of the Rampage

Listed are the 15 victims of the Santana High School shooting, with their injuries, if known. Victims are students unless otherwise noted. Some photos were not available.

Randy Gordon: Senior; killed

Heather Cruz: Sophomore; wounded

Trevor Edwards: Junior; wounded in the neck

Barry Gibson: Senior; wounded in leg

Matthew Heier: Senior; wounded

James Jackson: Senior; wounded

Melisa McNulty: Sophomore; wounded

Scott Marshall Junior; wounded in the back

Ray Serrato: Senior; shot in chest

Others

Bryan Zuckor: killed

Karla Leyva: Wounded