Girl detained as three shot at US school

Agirl has been arrested after she shot two pupils and a custodian at her Idaho school before being disarmed by a teacher.

Officials told a news conference the three are expected to survive their injuries. Jefferson County Sheriff Steve Anderson said the sixth-grade pupil pulled a handgun from her backpack and fired multiple rounds inside and outside Rigby Middle School in the small city of Rigby, about 95 miles south west of Yellowstone National Park.

A female teacher disarmed the girl and held her until law enforcement arrived and took her into custody.

Authorities say they are investigating the motive for the attack on Thursday and where the girl got the gun.

Dr Michael Lemon, trauma medical director at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Centre, said the injured adult was treated and released for a bullet wound in an extremity.

The bullet went cleanly through the limb, he said.

Both pupils who were shot were kept in hospital overnight and one of them might need surgery, Dr Lemon said. One of the pupils had wounds in two limbs but he said they were both in “fair” condition.

Police were called to the school at around 9.15am local time after pupils and staff heard gunfire. Multiple law enforcement agencies responded and pupils were evacuated to a nearby high school to be reunited with their parents.

“Me and my classmate were just in class with our teacher – we were doing work – and then all of a sudden, there was a loud noise and then there were two more loud noises. Then

there was screaming,” 12-year-old Iandel Rodriguez said. “Our teacher went to check it out, and he found blood.”

Iandel’s mother Adela Rodriguez said her daughter and son were OK but “still a little shaky”.

“Today we had the worst nightmare a school district could encounter. We had a school shooting here at

Rigby Middle School,” Jefferson School District Superintendent Chad Martin said. “What we know so far is the shooter has been apprehended.”

Bonneville County sheriff’s sergeant Bryan Lovell said an investigation was under way.

Rigby Middle School has about 1,500 pupils in sixth through to eighth grades,

according to the National Centre for Education Statistics.

“I am praying for the lives and safety of those involved in today’s tragic events,” Governor Brad Little said in a prepared statement. “Thank you to our law enforcement agencies and school leaders for their efforts in responding to the incident.”

‘WORST NIGHTMARE’: The shooting took place in the small city of Rigby, Idaho.