Details continue to trickle out of Nevada, where a student is believed to have opened fire at a middle school this morning, seriously injuring two boys and killing a staff member who is being hailed as a hero for trying to protect other students. Here’s the latest from the Associated Press:
The lone suspected gunman was also dead, though it’s unclear whether the student committed suicide. Authorities say no shots were fired by law enforcement. Names of the suspect and the school employee haven’t yet been released.
“In my estimation, he is a hero … We do know he was trying to intervene,” Reno Deputy Police Chief Tom Robinson said about the fallen staff member.
Two other students were critically injured in the violence that erupted around 7:15 a.m., shortly before classes began Monday. One is out of surgery and the other is doing well, according to police.
A 13-year-old student at the school told the Reno Gazette-Journal that the staff member who was killed was teacher, although that detail has not yet been confirmed. “We heard a pop, like a loud pop, and everybody was screaming and the teacher came to investigate,” Kyle Nucum told the paper. “I thought it was a firecracker at first, but the student was pointing a gun at the teacher after the teacher told him to put it down, and the student fired a shot at the teacher and the teacher fell and everybody ran away.”
Reno deputy police chief Tom Robinson said at least 150 personnel secured the school and the surrounding area after the shooting. In a statement released this morning, Gov. Brian Sandoval said he was receiving regular updates on what he called “the horrific shooting.” I’ll update with more information when we have it.
This post has been updated.
