2 boys shot dead while sitting in a van at an elementary school parking lot, police say

The victims, ages 11 and 14, were shot early Saturday in the west parking lot of Searles Elementary School, the Union City Police Department said.

They were in the parking lot at 1:26 a.m. when the incident happened, the New Haven Unified School District said in a statement. It said one was a student at the school district while the second one was a former student.

While the police said it occurred at the school parking lot, the school district said it was in or near the school parking lot.

The older boy died at the scene while the younger one died on the way to a trauma center. Police said they'll not release their names because they are minors.

"The Union City Police Department is diligently looking into the motive for this tragic incident ... Crime scene investigators have collected several items of evidence, including shell casings," police said.

Investigators said they're working to determine whether the shooting is connected to one that happened in the city four days prior and left two men injured. "Although there is no evidence to show that these two incidents are linked, investigators have not ruled out that possibility," police said.

No arrests have been made in the killings. Anyone with information is asked to call the anonymous tip line at (510) 675-5207 or reach out to investigators via email at tips@unioncity.org.

Union City is about 20 miles from Oakland.

In 46 weeks this year, there have been 45 school shootings

So far this year, before Saturday's incident, there had been 45 school shootings, according to a CNN tally. That's nearly an average of one school shooting a week.

Since there is no single definition for what qualifies as a school shooting, CNN's tally counted shootings on school property, which includes but is not limited to buildings, athletic fields, parking lots, stadiums and buses.

CNN's Alta Spells contributed to this report

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