One student is dead and three more victims were in critical condition following a shooting at Freeman High School in Rockford, Spokane County, Washington.
The Spokane Valley Fire Department reported that they responded to the “active shooter” situation at the high school at approximately 10:30 a.m. Chief Brian Schaeffer said the shooter had been detained and the three wounded victims were transported to the Sacred Heart Medical Center in critical condition.
As reported by CBS News, there was no information as to the age of the dead student.
Three injured victims are stable
Spokeswoman Nicole Stewart said three “pediatric patients” had been admitted at the Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children’s Hospital and were now in stable condition with family members surrounding them.
Speaking for the Spokane Police Department, Teresa Fuller confirmed that all the students, even those who were in hiding places in the school, had been located and evacuated from the school. She added that now that everyone was out of the building, an investigation would begin, which she said will take some time.
Spokane Public Schools headed to Twitter to say nearby schools had been placed on lockdown, which was lifted once Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich confirmed that the suspect was in custody, less than an hour later.
Parents react to school shooting
The Miami Herald quotes Cheryl Moser, whose son is a freshman at the school, as saying he called her from his classroom saying he had heard shots fired. Moser said he sounded very scared and she had never heard him like that. She reportedly told The Spokesman-Review newspaper that people would never imagine something like this happening at a small school.
Another parent, Stephanie Lutje, said how relieved she was to find out her son was safe following the shooting, who attends a school near Freeman High.
She went on to commend the school district for their excellent communication with parents, saying 15-20 minutes after hearing about the lockdown, she had already received a text message to say everyone at her son’s school was OK. However, she was still concerned for a co-worker who had yet to contact her son who is a sophomore at Freeman.
CBS News quotes Annie Baxter, mother of two female students at Freeman Middle School directly across the street, as saying she saw children running into buildings as she pulled up at 10:15 a.m. Baxter said it was a “late start” day and that classes were about to start.
One of the students at the school posted to Twitter to say she and her classmates were evacuated from the school. She said that she had heard at least four shots.