Prosecutors on Thursday declined to file criminal charges against two Gardena High School students accused of aiding a 17-year-old student suspected of carrying a handgun that discharged, striking two students and critically wounding one.

The students, a 16-year-old girl and 15-year-old boy, were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of aiding the suspected gunman after he fled the classroom. Authorities said the girl took the suspect's backpack and the boy gave him his sweatshirt and money for bus fare to flee the campus.

Ultimately, prosecutors determined that there was not enough evidence to charge the students, said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

The decision came the same day as the student suspected of carrying the handgun was charged with two felonies: possessing a firearm in a school zone and discharging a firearm in a school zone.

The suspect, whose name is being withheld because of his age, was on probation for a misdemeanor battery charge, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Joanne Baeza. Prosecutors have filed a motion to have the minor tried as an adult.

The teenager allegedly carried a loaded 9-millimeter Beretta in his backpack to school Tuesday. When he reached inside the backpack to get something to eat, the gun discharged a single round in a classroom about 10:40 a.m., authorities said.

The bullet struck a 15-year-old boy in the neck before hitting a 15-year-old girl in the side of the head, officials said.

The girl remains in critical condition at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center with a skull fracture and brain trauma. A spokeswoman for the hospital said she has been able to respond to basic commands.

The male victim was released from the hospital late Wednesday.

-- Andrew Blankstein

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University of California regents on Thursday urged all nine undergraduate UC campuses to adopt an admissions review system that looks at an applicant’s grades, test scores and life experience as a whole rather than ranking various application parts separately. UC Berkeley and UCLA already use the method, called holistic review, in making admissions decisions and the regents want it extended across the university system. Although some critics say it is too subjective, UC administrators say the method is more thorough and fair than the university's more traditional way of choosing applicants.

As they wrapped up their meeting in San Diego, the regents also awarded controversial, 10% pay raises to three financial managers in the UC president’s office whose salaries after the increases will range from $216,370 to $247,500. Officials defended the one-time raises as a way to save money in the long run; chief risk officer Grace Crickette; Dan Sampson, assistant vice president for financial services and controls; and Sandra Kim, executive director of capital markets finance, had contracts that called for annual bonuses even while UC was eliminating such bonus plans. Their contracts were renegoiated for the one-time raise with no bonuses or future raises planned, according to Peter J. Taylor, UC’s executive vice president and chief financial officer.

Unions criticized the decisions, calling such raises for executives unseemly at a time when low-wage UC employees face increased costs for pension and retirement health plans and a state budget crisis threatens large scale layoffs across the university.

-- Larry Gordon

HIGH WATER: "High tide on the full moon, combined with a large swell at sea, pushed water up past the bike path at Playa del Rey Wednesday morning. A cyclist headed south into the fog," says Mark Pattullo.

Every day of 2011, we're featuring reader-submitted photos of Southern California Moments. Visit the Southern California Moments homepage for more on this series.

Octuplets mom Nadya Suleman "regrets her actions" after making headlines again with the release of photos and a video of her whipping a man dressed as a baby, her attorney said.

TMZ posted a video on its website Thursday that shows Suleman wearing a tight, black corset as she chases an adult man in a diaper.

Her attorney, Jeff Czech, released a statement saying that it was filmed as a "joke."

"I personally had nothing to do with it and find it disgusting, unfunny, bizarre and just plain dumb," according to the statement. "I believe Nadya was somewhat tricked into filming the video and I know for certain she no longer believes the video is worth a laugh and deeply regrets her actions."

Suleman is in danger of being foreclosed on because of a dispute over payments to the owner of her La Habra home. She recently appeared on “The Oprah Show” with financial guru Dr. Suze Orman. The two told Suleman she needs to get a job and spend less on personal items like manicures.

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-- Kimi Yoshino

Photo: Suleman in 2010. Credit: Nick Ut/Associated Press

Mills College, the Oakland campus with a women-only undergraduate program, has hired an attorney and business executive to be its next president, officials announced Thursday. Alecia A. DeCoudreaux, who is vice president and deputy general counsel at Eli Lilly and Co. and has been active in women’s education issues nationally, will become Mills’ leader July 1.

DeCoudreaux succeeds Janet L. Holmgren, who has been president of Mills since 1991, one year after a student revolt helped reverse a decision that would have made the college a fully coeducational school. Mills now enrolls about 950 women undergraduates and about 600 men and women in its graduate programs. In an interview Thursday, DeCoudreaux said she would not have taken the new position if there was any chance its trustees might again try to make Mills' undergraduate program coeducational. 

DeCoudreaux, 56, is a graduate of Wellesley College in Massachusetts, one of 50 women’s colleges in the country, and she chairs Wellesley’s Board of Trustees. She will step down as chairwoman before starting her new job at Mills but plans to continue serving on the Wellesley board. She earned a law degree at Indiana University.

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--Larry Gordon

Photo: Alecia A. DeCoudreaux. Credit: Business Wire

A 26-year-old man and 24-year-old woman killed by a wrong-way driver on the 91 Freeway in Anaheim were identified Thursday as Alan Reyes, of Diamond Bar, and Vanessa Cease, of Long Beach.

Officials said the two were killed shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday when Anthony Louis Fragoso, 21, of South Gate, drove his white 1996 Mercedes-Benz west in the eastbound car-pool lane, colliding with Reyes' car.

Reyes and Cease, a single mother, were pronounced dead at the scene. Fragoso was listed in critical condition at UCI Medical Center. Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Price said doctors may have to amputate one of his legs.

Whether Fragoso was under the influence of drugs or alcohol remained under investigation, said Officer Ray Payton of the California Highway Patrol. Fragoso was booked Wednesday on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, Payton said.

Officials said more charges will be added if Fragoso is found to have been under the influence, and prosecutors said they would seek $150,000 bail.

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-- Nate Jackson

A 17-year-old Gardena High School student suspected of carrying a handgun that discharged on campus, striking one student and critically wounding another, was charged Thursday with two felonies: possessing a firearm in a school zone and discharging a firearm in a school zone.

The suspect, whose name is being withheld because of his age, was on probation for a misdemeanor battery charge, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Joanne Baeza. Prosecutors have filed a motion to have the minor tried as an adult. 

On Tuesday, the teenager allegedly carried a loaded 9-millimeter Beretta in his backpack to school. He then reached inside the backpack to get something to eat, and the gun discharged a single round in a classroom about 10:40 a.m, authorities said.

The bullet struck a 15-year-old boy in the neck before hitting a 15-year-old girl in the side of the head, officials said.

The girl remained in critical condition at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center with a skull fracture and brain trauma. A spokeswoman for the hospital said she has been able to respond to basic commands.

The male victim was released from the hospital late Wednesday.

The suspect is due to appear in a Long Beach juvenile court Friday. A source familiar with the inquiry said the student reportedly stole the gun from his stepfather.

Two other students have been arrested in relation to the shooting. Authorities believe that in the chaos afterward the suspect gave his backpack to a girl and that another boy provided him with a sweatshirt to change his appearance.

One of those suspects also allegedly gave him money for bus fare to flee the area. Police said the backpack has not been located.

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-- Richard Winton

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and others on Thursday strongly defended the decision to lock down 7 square miles of the west San Fernando Valley as they searched for a gunman who shot a police officer a day earlier near El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills

"I know the parents are upset, but it would be nothing compared to what they would feel if their children were needlessly exposed to an armed gunman. Those kids' safety is No. 1," Beck said. "This guy had shown total disregard for public safety and the community by shooting an armed police officer who was doing his job," Beck said.

Assistant Police Chief Earl Paysinger added: "We would be irresponsible in a fresh and unfolding tactical situation to expose young people to the threat of an armed gunman who has already demonstrated his intention to commit violence."

Students at Hale Middle School were fed and allowed bathroom breaks after Wednesday's post-shooting lockdown because authorities set up the command post there and were able to quickly search the campus, Principal Neal Siegel said Thursday.

Siegel said that in a situation such as Wednesday's, when police staged a massive hunt for a gunman who shot a police officer near El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, any emergency plans must be approved by police before being implemented.

"In this particular emergency, the plans are fluid and are always tweaked along the way," Siegel said, adding that the school had enough water and food to feed all students for 72 hours.

Siegel said Hale students received food and were allowed bathroom breaks in part because authorities designated it the command post for Wednesday's manhunt. Numerous police officers on campus meant the school was searched and cleared relatively quickly compared with a larger, more sprawling school such as nearby El Camino Real, he said.

"Yes, parents are upset that their children at El Camino perhaps weren't allowed to use the bathroom," Siegel said, "but safety of the students is our top priority."