Members of the media wait outside a North Augusta home, hoping to speak with the mother of the California school shooting suspect. JENNIFER FULLER/STAFF

The siege of reporters and photographers around Linda Williams' home began before 10 a.m.

Ms. Williams' son, Charles Andrew ``Andy'' Williams, was arrested Monday after a shooting spree that killed two students and left 13 other people wounded at Santana High School, in Santee, Calif.

On Tuesday morning, the North Augusta woman - whose name is Linda Williams according to North Augusta tax records - was quoted in a New York Times article and identified as Linda Wells. The article set off a race among other news organizations to talk to her also.

One local TV station got there first. Sobbing, Ms. Williams took a few moments to apologize to the families of those killed and injured.

``My heart goes out to them. They've lost their babies, their hopes, their dreams for their futures,'' Ms. Williams said in a brief interview with WJBF-TV at her home.

Ms. Williams, who is divorced from the boy's father, said her son lived with his father and stepmother in California. They moved there last year from Frederick, Md.

``He's lost,'' she said of her son. ``His future's gone.''

Afterward, Ms. Williams and Luther Wells, the man she lives with, took her dog and left in a white truck.

The news gatherers remained throughout the afternoon into the night.

``It's the news, and everybody needs to know about it,'' said Ms. Williams' neighbor, Allen Wright.

That need to know kept some people up into the early morning hours Tuesday answering phone calls from the media.

Beginning Monday night, North Augustan Derick Wells received five calls from reporters trying to track down ``Linda Wells.'' He said his father received just as many.

``I got the first one at 11:30 p.m. last night,'' Mr. Wells said Tuesday. ``They asked me for Linda Wells, who I don't know. I got another call at 5 a.m., and it sounded like the same voice.

``The only thing that bothered me was being awakened from deep sleep. And then finding out it was the same lady was annoying.''

On Tuesday, the media gathering on Foxhill Drive included national representatives from NBC's Today show, the television magazine Inside Edition, ABC and CBS. Members of the print media were just as abundant, including staff from The Augusta Chronicle.

Los Angeles Times Atlanta Bureau Chief Jeffrey Kettleman arrived on the scene at midday.

``I got the call at 1 a.m. last night saying that the mom of the shooter lives across the river from Augusta,'' Mr. Gettleman said. ``And since it's such a big story in southern California, we figured we should cover every possible angle.

``I'm here in hopes of getting an interview with the mother.''

Reporters discovered little about what they came for. Ms. Williams had not reappeared at nightfall, and neighbors knew little about her.

NBC News Producer Vivian Glover, out of Orangeburg, S.C., scoured the neighborhood Tuesday searching for even the smallest detail about Ms. Williams. She was looking for any hint that might lead her to her subject.

``This is a very difficult story because there is so little information about the parents,'' she said. ``I'm reluctant to leave this house because I think they might come back.

``I think the public, when these things happen, want to know as much as they can about them. They ask why? What caused that boy to do that?''

Associated Press reports were used in this article.

Reach Josh Gelinas at (706) 823-3218.