Student wounds teacher, teen girl in Indiana shooting
A teenage girl and a teacher were injured in the latest shooting to unfold at an American school — this one at Noblesville West Middle School in Indiana.
A male student asked to be excused from class Friday morning and returned moments later with a pair of handguns. The bloody attack marks the 23rd school shooting in 2018 during which someone was hurt or killed.
The situation was resolved “very quickly” and a suspect was taken into custody, Noblesville Police Chief Kevin Jowitt told reporters Friday afternoon, adding that what exactly unfolded within the Indiana classroom is still under investigation.
Students and members of the community were quick to credit seventh-grade science teacher Jason Seaman for ending the attack before more students were injured. He was shot three times, once in the abdomen, hip and forearm, as he protected his class from the gunman.
“He’s a hero,” a student who did not wish to be identified told WXIN-TV. “If he didn’t do anything he probably would have continued shooting and a lot more of us would have been injured and possibly killed.”
Kristy Hubly Seaman said her son was “doing well” after undergoing surgery at the University of Indiana Methodist hospital and requested prayers for the girl who also was shot.
She was taken to Riley Hospital for Children immediately after the shooting and another student was treated for a fractured ankle at Riverview Hospital.
Police and medical crews responded around 9 a.m. following reports of an active shooter situation at the school, located about 25 miles north of Indianapolis.
Aerial footage showed a shocking and chaotic scene, with students evacuating the building, hands raised, and panicked parents desperately searching for their children.
Authorities believe the suspect acted alone, but confirmed there have been additional threats made at other area schools, including one at Noblesville High School.
Jowitt said authorities never uncovered any evidence to suggest the threat was credible but the high school was put on lockdown for the better part of Friday morning.
He said authorities have the capability to track the phone from which the threat was sent, and vowed the person behind it would be prosecuted.
Vice President Mike Pence offered his support in a tweet complete with a message that has become commonplace in the wake of school shootings.
“Karen and I are praying for the victims of the terrible shooting in Indiana,” he wrote. “To everyone in the Noblesville community, you are (in) our hearts and in our prayers. Thanks for the swift response by Hoosier law enforcement and first responders.”
The shooting in Indiana comes exactly one week after a Texas teenager gunned down nine students and a teacher in a bloody rampage at Santa Fe High School. Following his arrest, student Dimitrios Pagourtzis confessed to opening fire in the halls of his school and was charged with capital murder.