Shooting suspect scoped out CA library before returning with a shotgun and killing 2, police say

CHICO, Calif. -- The 18-year-old suspect in a shooting at a Northern California library did a walkthrough of the building, then went to his vehicle, got a shotgun and fatally shot a man at the main door and another inside, law enforcement 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. Officers arrived within two minutes of the call, he said.

"From the first 911 call to having him in custody was less than 4 minutes," Aldridge said, praising officers for stemming the loss of life.

The suspect shot a man at the entrance of the library in the leg and then shot him in the head before firing multiple shots inside and shooting another man in the head, said Sid Patel, special agent in charge in the FBI's Sacramento office.

"Yesterday's violent attack was horrific," Patel said. "The full force of the FBI is assisting this investigation."

Details emerge on the victims and the arrest

Authorities identified the men who died as 46-year-old Jacob Hull and 74-year-old Robert Johnson.

A child was taken to a hospital with a minor injury, Aldridge said. Her name was not released.

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 after the arrest.

"The incident this evening was obviously very sad, traumatic for a lot of people. Very traumatic for our community," Aldridge said.

Officers recovered a shotgun from the floor of the library and two other guns from the suspect's car. The weapons were registered to the suspect's family, the police chief said, without providing any other information.

The shooting in Chico - a city of about 100,000 people, is 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco and home to California State University, Chico - shocked the community in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and led authorities to say they will add security personnel at each library location.

There have been at least three fatal attacks at libraries in the last nine years.

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.

"A library should be a place of joy," said Misty Wright, director of public libraries in Butte County. "Most of all it should be a place that feels safe. Yesterday that safety was shattered."

Wright said that before the shooting, the libraries were visited by "mobile patrols" and that she she wasn't sure if they are armed.

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.

Police later determined the suspect acted alone and identified him as Bradley Scott Sayer of Chico. Sayer graduated from Chico High School on June 5, Patel said.

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.

Officials said Tuesday that Sayer's family has retained an attorney, but didn't release the lawyer's name. A search Tuesday of Butte County court records did not show Sayer's name.

Suspect demonstrated an affinity for Columbine shootings

At the time of the shooting, Sayer was wearing a white T-shirt inscribed with the words "natural selection," mimicking a T-shirt with the same slogan worn by Eric Harris, one of two shooters in the 1999 Columbine massacre in Colorado, Patel said.

"He had been a fan, and a fan for a long time" of the Columbine shootings on social media, Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsey said.

Sayer is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, he said.

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."

Police said the Butte County Sheriff's Office and the FBI are assisting in the investigation.

All Butte County library branches were to be closed Tuesday, officials said.

___ Corrects to show that two men were killed, not a man and a woman.