CHICAGO (AFP) - – A 15-year-old youth took 23 students and a teacher hostage at a high school in a small Wisconsin town before turning the gun on himself, police said.
The youth was hospitalized with a gunshot wound, with no immediate word on his condition, but the captives were unharmed, according to officials in Marinette, Wisconsin, where the drama unfolded Monday.
Marinette police chief Jeff Skorik said earlier reports on social network sites that students had been injured in the attack were incorrect.
Skorik told a late night press conference the student who had held the hostages shot himself as police approached him after officers had heard three gunshots go off in the classroom.
The male gunman, who was not identified, was transported to a local hospital where his condition or the nature of the injuries was not known late Monday.
"Emergency rescue personnel on stand-by treated the suspect and transported him to Bay Area Medical Center," a police statement said.
The drama came to an end at 8:03 pm (0103 GMT Tuesday) moments after the gunman had released five students to allow them to use the washrooms.
After hearing gunfire, officers who had been in dialogue with the teacher, immediately entered the room, and saw the boy shoot himself.
"The officers breached the door, entered the classroom and saw the suspect in front of the classroom," Skorik said. "At that time the suspect fired one shot, injured himself with a self-inflicted gunshot wound." Skorik did not say where he was shot.
The hostage-taker, an unidentified student, entered the classroom toward the end of the school day, around 3:00 pm (2000 GMT).
Police had been hoping to resolve the drama without violence. "The game plan all along was to have the situation end peacefully," Skorik said.
The youth, a student at Marinette High School, had entered the classroom with two handguns, a .22 caliber semi-automatic and a 9-mm pistol. Cartridge casings found on the scene revealed both weapons had been used, he added.
The motive for the situation remained unclear according to Skorik, who noted the student was not known to local police. One parent told the Milwauke Journal Sentinel that the situation unfolded during a Western Civilization class.
"We have no idea as far as motivations at this point," he said.
The high school will be closed until further notice and grief counselors will be on hand once the decision is made to re-open, said Superintendent Timothy Baneck.
The district had held a drill last fall to practise what to do if a shooter had entered the school, he added.
Marinette is approximately 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of the city of Green Bay. The school has approximately 700 students.
Police had earlier said there were 20 students and one teacher being held hostage.
Source:
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20101130/twl-us-hostage-4bdc673.html