Sheriff: Two students were injured during the shooting at a Maryland high school Tuesday morning just before classes were to begin. A female student is in critical condition and a male student is stable. The shooter was confirmed dead at a local hospital. https://t.co/x0CytRkAgo pic.twitter.com/1D7enaHIwv
— CNN (@CNN) March 20, 2018
UPDATE – 3/27/18: Police have revealed that the gunman died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, rather than by the hand of the responding school resource officer.
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On Tuesday morning, authorities in St. Mary’s county in Maryland confirmed an incident had occurred at Great Mills High School. The school went on lockdown with CBS Baltimore reporting that the situation, a shooting, was quickly contained. Notably, this situation arrives after recent shooting threats against Great Mills High, which is sadly the case for countless schools after the Parkland, Florida massacre.
As reported in the above CNN clip, authorities have now confirmed that at least three people, including the shooter (an armed student), were initially injured by gunfire. CNN now reports that a school resource officer killed the shooter:
[St. Mary’s County Sheriff Tim] Cameron said the school resource officer engaged the shooter and ended the threat, and the shooter was pronounced dead. A male student is in stable condition and a female student is in critical condition, he said.
The school resource officer fired a round at the shooter, and the shooter fired a round as well, but the officer was not injured.
The response to this shooting was a swift one, not only by the school resource officer but by first responders. Local police, sheriff’s deputies, and the FBI quickly arrived on the scene, and the school district confirmed on Twitter that a shooting had occurred.
There has been a Shooting at Great Mills High School. The school is on lock down the event is contained, the Sheriff's office is on the scene additional information to follow.
Parents/Guardians should go to Leonardtown HS for reunification with GMHS students— SMCPS_MD (@SMCPS_MD) March 20, 2018
Early on during the incident, CNN spoke with a student named Jonathan Freese, who relayed his reactions from inside a classroom to the unfolding incident. As Freese indicated, he was very “shaken up” but felt safe because two officers are always on the scene at his school. Freese, who did not hear gunfire, also relayed unconfirmed word (hearsay) that many people were shot, although that information has since been corrected.
Here’s Freese’s full interview with CNN.
(Via CNN & CBS Baltimore)