A gunman opened fire at a high school near Seattle Friday, killing at least one and injuring several others before turning the gun on himself, police and media reports said.
© Pictures from KIRO TV show emergency services responding to the reported shooting at Marysville Pilchuck High School | KOMO News | AFP photo
Three of the injured were rushed to hospital and were in a critical condition, a doctor said, following the attack at Marysville Pilchuck High School, in Marysville, about 30 miles (50 kilometres) north of Seattle in Washington state.
Marysville Police Commander Robb Lamoureux confirmed the shooter, a student, was dead, but could not say if the other person killed in the attack was also a pupil at the school.
“We are confident that there was only one shooter and the shooter is deceased,” he said. Media reports said the gunman, identified by local TV station KIRO 7 as Jaylen Fryberg, had killed himself.
Witnesses described the gunman as a well-liked freshman and member of the school’s wrestling and football teams.
The Seattle Times reported that two students had died, and that four other people had been injured.
Live TV pictures showed swarms of police and emergency workers descending on the school, which has some 2,500 students.
Police were going room by room, searching the school to make sure it was safe.
Parents appeared to be gathering at a nearby church.
“I never thought I would be standing here after a school shooting,” Heather Parker, whose son Corbin is at the school, told the Seattle Times.
“He’s pretty shook up. He just said ‘I’m Okay.’ He was trying to calm me down,” he added.
The Marysville School District said in a statement that “Marysville Pilchuck High School is currently in lockdown due to an emergency situation. Police and emergency services have responded.”
The shooting occurred in the school cafeteria, according to multiple reports.
“I was eating… I hear four gunshots and it was behind me. I saw a gun pointed at a table… then I ran out of the exit,” one student in the cafeteria, named only as Alex, told KIRO 7.
Four students were brought to Providence Everett medical center, said hospital spokeswoman Heidi Amrine. Three were in “very critical” condition, while one considered stable enough to transport was taken to another medical center in Seattle, she said.
The three still being treated at Providence Everett had all suffered head wounds, said the hospital’s chief medical officer Joanne Roberts. One had been taken to the Intensive Care Unit, while two remained in surgery, she said.
Ayn Dietrich, an FBI spokesperson in Seattle, said the agency had personnel on their way to the scene to help authorities with the investigation.
The latest school shooting in the region happened at Seattle Pacific University, where a gunman killed one student and wounded two others on June 5.
(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP, REUTERS)