18-year-old suspect arrested in shooting that killed 2 inside Northern California library
A shooting at a library in Northern California left two people dead and an 18-year-old suspect under arrest, police said Tuesday.
Chico Police Chief Billy Aldridge said gunshots and screams could be heard on a 911 call Monday evening from the Chico branch of the Butte County Library. Chico, a city of about 100,000 people, is 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco and home to California State University, Chico.
The suspect fled out the back of the library as officers entered, but additional law enforcement personnel behind the building took the man into custody, Aldridge said during a news conference.
“The incident this evening was obviously very sad, traumatic for a lot of people. Very traumatic for our community,” Aldridge said.
A video from the scene shows police patrol cars surrounding the one-story, brick building and officers pointing their rifles at the building. Another video shows a man face down on the ground being handcuffed by a police officer who then picks him up and hands him to another officer who walks him away from the building.
The streets around the library were closed temporarily and a family reunification center was set up for the people who were inside the building.
A child was also taken to the hospital with a minor injury.
Police later determined the suspect acted alone and identified him as Bradley Scott Sayer of Chico. He was booked into the Butte County Jail on suspicion of two counts of murder. There was no indication he had any prior relationship with or connection to the victims, police said in a statement. Authorities have not released the victims’ names.
Jeannie Lee Schroeder was on a city bus that stopped near the library when she noticed the large police presence. As officers carrying guns marched toward the street, the bus driver started driving away. Schroeder began recording video on her phone.
“And as we were driving, and I’m filming, I see a person in a light-colored shirt running toward the street, toward where the bus was at,” Schroeder said Tuesday. “And then there was an officer behind him, and another officer coming at the side of him, and that’s when they tackled him down. And then they apprehended him.”
A police department dispatcher and a jail representative said Tuesday they did not know if Sayer has a attorney. A search of Butte County court records did not show Sayer’s name and a phone number could not be found for him. Sayer is scheduled to make his first court appearance Thursday.
Police said the Butte County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI are assisting in the investigation.
All Butte County library branches will be closed Tuesday, officials said.
In a Facebook post, the county offered its “deepest condolences to everyone affected, including the victims, their loved ones, library staff, and all those impacted by this heartbreaking incident.”
It wasn’t the first act of violence at a U.S. library.
A man in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to fatally shooting a man in a library and another man in a convenience store in 2023. In 2020, a suspect was sent to a mental health facility after he pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing a library security guard in Spring Valley, New York. A teenager who pleaded guilty to fatally shooting two public library employees in Clovis, New Mexico, in 2017 was also sentenced to life in prison.
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