An Instagram account allegedly belonging to a 16-year-old school shooter has been confirmed to be a hoax.
The profile began circulating on social media hours after Nathaniel Berhow opened fire at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California.
The account, 'nibba_leader', featured a bio which read: "Saugus, have fun at school tomorrow."
The shooting, on Berhow's 16th birthday, killed two teenagers before turning the gun on himself. He is now critically injured in hospital.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office said in a press conference that officers have been working with Instagram overnight and confirmed that the account was not genuine and had been set up outside of the country.
An Instagram spokesperson told Buzzfeed News on Thursday: "We disabled this account for violating our policies.
"We can confirm it did not belong to the shooter."
Berhow opened fire on his fellow high school students on his 16th birthday and shot himself in the head.
He survived and is currently in a grave condition.
A boy, aged 14, and a girl, 16, were killed and three more were treated in hospital after the chaos was unleashed shortly before the morning's classes were due to begin.
Two girls, aged 14 and 15, were being treated at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, California, and were in a good and fair condition, a hospital spokeswoman said early on Friday.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office, said on Friday that the suspect's motive was the question of the day.
"This kind of came out of the blue," the sheriff told CNN. "It shocked everyone who knew him."
All Hart District schools in Santa Clarita were closed on Friday, the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's office said on Twitter , out of respect for the victims and their families.
Police said on Thursday that investigators were interviewing the mother and girlfriend of the suspect, whose name they have not released, and are looking for clues about his motive on social media.
They believe he acted alone.
The FBI is assisting in the investigation and police do not know yet where the suspect got the weapon, Villanueva said.
The scene at Saugus High School was reminiscent of other mass shootings at U.S. schools, including Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where a former student with an assault rifle killed 17 people on Feb. 14, 2018.
It was the 85th incident of gunfire at a school this year, according to Everytown, a gun control advocacy group.
