The California high school student who carried out a shooting at his high school on his 16th birthday that killed two classmates and injured three others, before turning the gun on himself has been named as Nathaniel Berhow.

The student pulled a 45 caliber semiautomatic handgun from his backpack and fired on fellow students during classes at about 7.38am Pacific Time at Saugus High School on Centurion Way in Santa Clarita.

The teenage gunman survived a self-inflicted gunshot to the head and was taken to the hospital after he was arrested.

At a press conference, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva revealed that officers responded to the school within two minutes of getting the first 911 call and found six students suffering from gunshot wounds.  He said the suspected shooter was initially mistaken for a victim.