Cedric Anderson, 53, walked into a classroom at the North Park Elementary School in San Bernadino, Ca. on Monday, shooting his estranged wife, Karen Elaine Smith, 53 – a teacher at the school – dead. He then turned the gun on himself, but not before two of the children, standing behind Smith, were caught up in the gunfire.

One child, eight-year-old Jonathan Martinez, died on the way to hospital, while, according to the New York Times, a nine-year-old girl is still receiving treatment and is reportedly stable.

Blasting News reported on the story of the shooting incident on Monday, but at that stage the identities of the school shooter and victim were unknown.

As reported by KTLA5, there were 15 students in the classroom at the time of the shooting, along with two adult aides.

Anderson reportedly went to the front office to show his identification before proceeding to the classroom. Staff had no idea he was carrying a concealed weapon at the time. No one could have imagined that a murder-suicide was about to take place.

Mother talks of her daughter’s marriage to the school shooter

The couple had reportedly only been married for a few months before the special-needs teacher left Anderson. As reported by the New York Daily News, Smith’s mother has now spoken to them about her daughter’s rocky marriage to Anderson, saying her daughter regretted her decision to marry him within in the first week.

Irma Sykes, 80, described Anderson as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” saying he was “two-faced.” According to Sykes, Anderson turned on her daughter soon after their wedding and the “real Cedric” came out.

Shooter threatened to throw the teacher out of a window

Sykes said she heard hints of her son-in-law’s dark side during the four years the couple was dating, but that he seemed to be treating her daughter well.

However, within the first month of their marriage, Anderson reportedly accused Smith of infidelity.

At that time, Smith reportedly called her mother to say her husband had threatened to kill her. According to Sykes, Anderson threatened to throw her daughter out of the window. Smith was particularly shocked, as the shooter had been kind while they were dating and she had no idea of his darker side.

Eventually Smith decided to leave Anderson, moving in with her son and daughter at her mother’s home. She never expected Anderson to hunt her down once she was out of their residence. According to Sykes, Anderson then attempted to “butter her up,” saying nice things to try and convince her to return home, but Smith refused.

This led to Anderson walking into Smith’s special-needs class on Monday with a concealed handgun, taking both her life, his own and the life of an eight-year-old child.

School shooter and victim were born-again Christians

According to Sykes, the couple were both born-again Christians and her daughter had taught Sunday school for many years before joining North Park Elementary School as a teacher.

She called Smith a “wonderful, God-fearing woman” and added that Anderson was a pastor for 17 years. Saying she can imagine exactly where Anderson is now, she then quoted the bible as saying, “Thou shalt not kill.”
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