School shooting suspect ‘wanted to do a Columbine’

The vice principal was not harmed, but three students and two teachers were hit by shotgun pellets, none seriously.

Bernadette Roberts, 18, said yesterday that girls were making a noise in a classroom in January when Hoffman appeared to become frustrated, put his hands in the shape of guns and stated, ‘‘I wish I could do Columbine all over again.’’

‘‘When he said it, it really shook me up,’’ Miss Roberts said.

In 1999, two students at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, killed 12 students and a teacher and wounded 23 before killing themselves

Roberts said she told her teacher and met in February with vice principal Dan Barnes, who asked if she believed she needed protection. She said she declined and did not know what steps the district took.

School officials did not return phone calls seeking comment yesterday.

Police Chief James Davis said investigators were aware of the report but declined further comment.

Prosecutor Paul Pfingst said Barnes was the target of the attack.

‘‘All we can say about the motive is that by the virtue of the charges the focus of this individual was the vice principal,’’ prosecutor Paul Pfingst said.

Hoffman remained in hospital with a broken jaw and a wound to his buttocks. He was shot by a police officer at the school.

It was learned yesterday that Hoffman assaulted a school classmate several years ago and was ordered to attend an anger management class.

Hoffman was 14 when he struck the student in the head with a tennis racket, according to a source familiar with the case who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The victim was not seriously injured. Case records are sealed because Hoffman was a juvenile at the time, but the source said a charge of assault with a deadly weapon was reduced to a misdemeanour and Hoffman was given probation and ordered to attend the anger class.

Authorities said Hoffman skipped Thursday morning classes, arriving at school just before 1 pm with a 12-gauge shotgun in his hand and a .22-calibre handgun in his waistband. Police said they were trying to determine who owned both weapons.

One shot was fired at Barnes, who ducked into an office. Authorities said Hoffman was chased by Officer Richard Agundez, who fired up to five rounds, hitting Hoffman twice and his shotgun once, disabling it.

Hoffman collapsed in a street 90 seconds after the shooting began. He had never entered a school building, and authorities said he also did not fire at the officer.

The powerfully built 6ft 1in student is a loner intimidating enough to be called

‘‘The Rock,’’ said Sean Connacher, 18, a senior at Granite Hills.

‘‘He always just seemed like an angry person. I always saw him walking around alone with a scowl on his face,’’ Connacher said yesterday. ‘‘Nobody picked on this kid because he was so intimidating.’’

Hoffman was 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.

‘‘He was a cool kid, but he was mad because he wasn’t getting all the credits he needed to graduate,’’ said Jiovani Guerrero, a former Granite Hills student who knew Hoffman.

Classes were cancelled yesterday at Granite Hills, only a few miles from Santana High School in Santee, where a 15-year-old allegedly killed two classmates and wounded 13 others on March 5.

The area of the Granite Hills campus where the shooting occurred underwent quick repairs. A window was replaced and administration building walls and a door were being repainted yesterday morning.

School district superintendent Granger Ward urged parents to come with their children when classes resume Monday.

‘‘I really think we need to reclaim our school,’’ Ward said.