Four students were injured, including three with gunshot wounds, after a shooting at Wilmer-Hutchins high school in Dallas on Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.
Dallas Fire-Rescue officials confirmed the injuries and said that the ages of the patients were 15 to 18 years. They had wounds that went from serious to not potentially mortal, said the agency.
The students were seen evacuating the main building of the school after the shooting was reported to the authorities around 1 pm
“I turned around, everything I heard were seven shots. I grabbed a teacher and ran in the room,” said student Patrick Campos. “Running, everyone was running.”
In a brief press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Dallas ISD police and district officials said the gunman had been identified but was generally. Hours later, the suspect was arrested and was arrested in the Dallas County prison.
The school is the same in which a student was injured in a shooting in a classroom last year.
“Today, as we all know, the unthinkable has happened,” said the Superintendent of the Independent School District of Dallas, Stephanie Elizalde. “And frankly, this is becoming too familiar, and should not be familiar.”
The district said the weapon did not enter the school building during the primary admission period when students pass through metal detectors.
District officials did not say how the weapon arrived at the building or what happened in the moments before the shots were shot.
“We have the identity of the suspect, but as I mentioned earlier, this is a very fresh and fluid investigation, so I have no other information about what led to the shooting,” said the district police assistant, Christina Smith.
District leaders said classes would be canceled at school during the rest of the week and that the directors would be available to anyone who fights after the shooting.
