School shooting suspect moved to county jail

Click through images of the Granite Hills High School shooting

EL CAJON, California (CNN) -- The high school senior accused of wounding five people in a shooting at a San Diego-area school was in the county jail awaiting arraignment Monday.

Jason Hoffman, 18, faces an attempted, premeditated murder count and four counts of assault with a deadly weapon in Thursday's shootings at Granite Hills High School. He was transferred the San Diego County jail Saturday evening and was scheduled to be arraigned Monday afternoon.

Investigators accuse Hoffman of shooting three students and two teachers before being wounded by an El Cajon police officer on the school's campus. He underwent five hours of surgery for gunshot wounds to his face and buttocks at Sharp Memorial Hospital on Thursday and had been hospitalized before being transferred to the jail.

As investigators continue to piece together clues about the shooting, a Navy spokesman told CNN that Hoffman had recently been rejected by the Navy.

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"He came into the Navy recruitment station, provided information about his background and was told during the interview he was not eligible," spokesman Joe Winton said in San Diego. He would not say when the interview took place, or what prompted the rejection of his application.

"We did not gather the information, he provided it to us," Winton said.

Authorities still have no motive for the shooting, although El Cajon Police Chief James Davis confirmed a vice principal, Dan Barnes, was the target.

Davis said Hoffman had skipped morning classes. He arrived at the school about 12:55 p.m. (3:55 p.m. ET), armed with a 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun and a .22-caliber pistol, according to police.

"When he saw Vice Principal Barnes, he pointed the shotgun at Mr. Barnes and fired one round," Davis said. "Mr. Barnes was able to dive into another doorway and avoid being struck by the pellets. Hoffman then started firing indiscriminately at other people in the attendance quad area."

Davis said Hoffman owned both weapons, and officials were investigating who purchased them. Hoffman turned 18 on March 10, making it unlikely he could have purchased the weapons legally.

A search of Hoffman's home turned up a third weapon, a black powder muzzle-loading pistol, and some computers.

"We will be examining the computers for any information that may relate to either the motive or the strategy in terms of these shootings," District Attorney Paul Pfingst said.

The shooting at the 60-acre Granite Hills High was the second area school shooting in less than a month. Six miles away, authorities said, 15-year-old student killed two and wounded 13 at Santana High School in Santee on March 5.

Thursday's shootings occurred about a week after a forum inspired by the Santana shootings was held at Granite Hills on school safety. After the Santee shootings, law enforcement's presence was heightened on all campuses in the Grossmont Union High School District, Superintendent Granger Ward said.

That increased presence will remain through the end of next week, he added.

Suspect rejected by Navy before school shooting
March 24, 2001
Suspect rejected by Navy before school shooting
March 24, 2001
School shooting suspect to face attempted murder charge
March 23, 2001
Gun battle ends school shooting
March 22, 2001

Granite Hills High School
San Diego County Sheriff

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