EL CAJON, Calif. (AP) — The 18-year-old student accused of wounding five people at his high school is a powerfully built loner intimidating enough be called "The Rock," a boy former neighbors said was fascinated with guns.
But Jason Hoffman also is known as a kid so concerned about his schoolwork that he got upset with classmates who didn't pull their weight on projects and stewed about earning enough credits to graduate.
As this community struggled with the second high-school shooting in three weeks, a conflicted picture emerged of a troubled teen who may or may not have shown the oft-discussed signs that are supposed to warn educators and peers that violence is about to erupt.
"He had this hate-the-world walk," 18-year-old Sean Connacher told the San Diego Union-Tribune. "This is a kid who didn't get picked on very often because most of the kids were afraid of him."
Hoffman remained hospitalized today, recovering from wounds he got in a short gunbattle with police at Granite Hills High School, where three students and two teachers were wounded Thursday by shotgun fire.
The shooting came less than three weeks after a 15-year-old allegedly killed two classmates and wounded 13 others at Santana High in Santee, just seven miles away and part of the same school district.
This time, a community already weary of headlines and TV news trucks quickly seized on one positive bit of a story that otherwise had a depressingly familiar air: a hero.
Police officer Richard Agundez, a former SWAT officer assigned to the campus, ran toward the shotgun blasts that rocked the campus during the middle of the school day and ended the attack by wounding the gunman.
"Agent Agundez is the hero of the day," Principal Georgette Torres said.
Hoffman was armed with a 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun and a .22-caliber semiautomatic handgun, authorities said.
Hospitalized with wounds to the jaw and buttocks, he wasn't immediately charged or interrogated.
Authorities said the guns came from Hoffman's home, but they didn't provide details on whether they had been locked up.
Two boys, a girl and two female teachers were wounded by shotgun pellets. One boy remained hospitalized Friday, recovering from wounds to his chest, arm and head. A 61-year-old parent who suffered chest pains rushing to the scene was in critical condition.
Classes were canceled until Monday, but students were allowed on campus Friday afternoon to get their belongings.