A gunman has shot two people at a high school in California, police have said.

One victim suffered a “major injury” and was taken to hospital in an air ambulance, officers said.

The other victim suffered a “minor injury” in the shooting at Taft Union High School, about 120 miles (190km) north of Los Angeles, they added.

A city official said the incident occurred shortly after 09:00 local time (17:00 GMT). Police say the gunman has been taken into custody.

Deputies from the local sheriff”s office and officials have been conducting a search of the school and its grounds to make sure no-one else was involved and all other students are safe.

A police spokesman said the gunman had used a shotgun in the attack in the small town outside Bakersfield in California’s central valley.

The shooting comes four weeks after a gunman killed 26 pupils and staff at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

That incident has provoked a nationwide debate about gun laws in the US. Vice-President Joe Biden has said his task force on gun control will make its recommendations to President Barack Obama as early as Tuesday.

Former pupils of Taft Union High School include the distinguished US Air Force pilot, General Gordon Graham, the American football player Russell Letlow and the television actress Jeanne Cooper.