At least six people have been shot at a high school in Washington State Wednesday.
One student was killed in the shooting and three more children were taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center where they were in critical condition, Spokane Fire Department Chief Brian Schaeffer said.
Hospital staff said the victims were all in their mid-teens, two of whom were reported stable condition. The third patient was scheduled to undergo surgery Wednesday afternoon: “We have three teenagers with us and they are all doing great. They are stable at this point,” he said. “We are thrilled to report that.” a surgeon treating the wounded said.
A suspect was detained shortly after the shooting was reported, according to NBC-affiliate KHQ. The shooter’s identity remained unconfirmed Wednesday.
The Spokane Valley Fire Department confirmed it responded to an “active shooter” at Freeman High School at around 10:15 a.m.
Spokane public schools posted a tweet shortly before 2 p.m. EST that a lockdown was in effect near Freeman High School in Rockford.
At least five ambulances and a LifeFlight helicopter were sent to the scene,.
Scene of chaos outside Freeman High School
Students evacuated from Freeman High School to a nearby elemtary school
Annie Baxter, whose two daughters attend a middle school across the street from the high school, told the Spokesman-Review that kids were running into buildings when she pulled up at about 10:15 a.m. local time.
Classes were about to begin because it’s a “late start” day, Baxter said.
“They did a modified lockdown drill yesterday,” she said. “I thought it was weird because they wouldn’t do (a drill) two days in a row.”
Baxter told the paper she was being held in a multipurpose room with about 30 other people in Freeman Elementary School.
She said she was told that at least one person was shot but was expected to survive.
“I saw someone carrying a gurney into the elementary school but I didn’t know why,” she said.
In addition to the Freeman school district, the Central Valley and Mead districts also were on lockdown due to the shooting, KHQ reported.
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