The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an incident at a school in South Manteca where several bullets hit a building that was occupied by students over the weekend.
The Durham Ferry Outdoor Education Center on S. Airport Way was struck by gunfire at around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday while 11 students were inside. According to staff members who were interviewed by officers, the gunshots sounded like they came from the nearby levee protecting the area from the San Joaquin River.
Deputies that were onsite investigating the reports said that were “no indications” that the building was intentionally targeted, and the matter remains under investigation.
According to social media comments made by one parent who claimed her daughter was one of the students at the site at the time of the shooting, a bullet hit the roof of the school after students went outside of the classroom and another struck the door that they had just walked out of.
Another resident that says she lives in the area replied on the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office Facebook post announcing the incident said that there have been a number of explosions and gunshots in the area recently as well.
The Durham Ferry Outdoor Recreation Area is in the same vicinity as the Manteca Sportsmen’s shooting range but is around a long bend in the San Joaquin River and is more than 8/10 of a mile as the crow flies with a total of four levees between the two points.
No other information has been released by the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office at this time.