Junior high student kills self at Oklahoma school
A junior high school student in Stillwater, Okla., committed suicide at the school before classes began on Wednesday, police and school officials said.
The student, who has not been named, died from a gunshot wound, Police Capt. Randy Dickerson told the Stillwater NewsPress. “It doesn’t appear that anyone else was in danger or threatened,” he said.
Supt. Ann Caine said counselors would be available for students, who were taken to a nearby shopping center after the shooting to wait for their parents. The school was closed for the day.
“It is with a heavy heart that I inform you of a tragic incident at our [school] this morning,” Caine said in a message to parents. “At 7:50 a.m. one of our students died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. All other students and staff are safe.”
The shooting took place in an area near the school library known as “The Pit.”
“Everyone thought it was a joke at first,” ninth-grader Ashlyn Lundholm told the Stillwater newspaper. “Then I heard people screaming. Then we went to lockdown for 35 to 40 minutes.”
Students at nearby Skyline Elementary School were temporarily placed under lockdown, but the school was reopened.
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