Hollister High School cordoned off after incident near riverbed

This article is here in Spanish.

Hollister High School was cordoned off for over an hour on August 26, following a shooting that occurred south of campus near the San Benito River.

Police responded to calls about a victim around 12:15 p.m. and cordoned off the campus shortly thereafter.

The San Benito Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to BenitoLink's call, but posted on social media that an adult male was shot with an air rifle during an altercation between two adult males near the riverbed.

“The two adult male suspects were identified on surveillance video footage provided to us by the high school and our investigators are currently following up on those leads,” the post said.

It was further stated that the victim suffered a superficial injury and was treated on site. He refused to be transported to the hospital.

Hollister Police and San Benito County Probation also responded to the shooting. Police used a drone to search the area for suspects. Police also searched the campus with a sniffer dog unit.

Following the announcement of the lifting of the curfew around 1:40 p.m., many students began leaving campus on foot. The announcement said the school was offering lunch in the cafeteria.

One student who spoke to BenitoLink but declined to give his name said students were told to be quiet for the first 30 minutes and then continued with work. Another student said he only knew the school was on lockdown but was not told why, so he listened to a police radio for more information.

Anthony Freitas was at the high school to pick up his grandchildren, who were supposed to leave early today. He said he had to wait an extra hour and felt they were safe because they were in their classroom.

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