Maryland school shooting: Student injures 2, dies in gunfight; top updates

The Great Mills shooting incident in Maryland comes about five weeks after a shooting at a Florida high school left 14 students dead

A 17-year-old male student shot two other students at Great High School in Maryland on Tuesday, in eastern United States (US), but the event was quickly “contained”, officials said. The shooter was killed in gunfight and the injured were immediately rushed to a local hospital.

According to local sheriff's office, a male student opened fire at a girl in the hallway shortly after school started, injuring another male student in the process. Other students of the school were evacuated to another school to be reunited with their parents.

School principal Jake Heibel had warned of a shooting threat weeks before the incident, but concluded that the threat was "not substantiated" after investigation. It is unclear whether the threat was linked to the actual shooting.

Great Mills High School is located about a 90-minute drive southeast of the US capital Washington DC. St Mary's County Public Schools said on its website that the law enforcement was on the scene. "It happened really quickly, right after school started" after 8:00 am (1200 GMT), Jonathan Freese, a student at the school, told CNN. "The police came and responded really quickly," Freese said.

"They had a lot of officers respond. Right now, the police are going through classrooms," he said. "Soon we are going to be escorted from the school."

Earlier this week, thousands of students across the US walked out of their schools to call for action against gun violence precisely one month post the Florida shooting which claimed 17 lives.

Here are the top 10 updates of the Maryland school shooting:

1. 17-year-old gunman killed: The shooter was killed in gunfight with a school resource officer who was alerted to the shooting by students and staff, but the sheriff's office has yet to determine whether the gunman killed himself or was killed by the safety officer.

St. Mary's County Sheriff Tim Cameron said the resource officer and the gunman each fired a round of bullets after engagement, but the officer ended the threat. The incident occurred at the Great High School highway just before classes began.

BREAKING: Sheriff confirms student shooter is dead after attack inside Maryland high school.

 

— The Associated Press (@AP) March 20, 2018

2. One victim in critical condition: "There has been a shooting at Great Mills High School. The school is on lock down, the event is contained, the Sheriff's office is on the scene," St. Mary's County Public Schools said.

Both victims have been transferred to a local hospital, Cameron said, adding that the girl was in critical condition while the male student was in stable condition.

3. Three possible injured: St. Mary's County public information office Andrew Ponti had said that at least three people were injured in the shooting incident.

"It's unclear if the shooter was among the injured," he had said.

4. Students shaken up: Mollie Davis, who identified herself on Twitter as a student at Great Mills, posted a series of tweets about the shooting.

The Great Mills incident comes about five weeks after a shooting at a Florida high school left 14 students and three adult staff members dead.

5. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan pledged to provide assistance.

"Our prayers are with students, school personnel and first responders," Hogan said in a tweet.

6. 19th shooting in a US school this year

It was the 19th shooting in a U.S. school so far this year. That tally includes suicides and incidents when no one was injured, as well as the January shooting in which a 15-year-old gunman killed two fellow students at a Benton, Kentucky, high school.

More than 40 “active shooter” episodes in schools have been recorded in the United States since 2000, according to F.B.I. and news reports. The shootings have become common enough that many schools, including Douglas High, run annual drills in which students practice huddling in classrooms behind locked doors.

7. Florida shooting

Valentine's Day 2018 turned into a Day of Carnage for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, when a 19-year-old gunman opened fire with an assault-style rifle on Wednesday. The attack killed 17 people and injured more than a dozen. The gunman, identified as Nikolaus Cruz, had once been expelled for disciplinary reasons from the Florida school.

8. March against shootings at schools

Thousands of people are expected to rally in Washington, DC, this weekend for a March for Our Lives protest to advocate for gun control. This marks the second big push of teenage activism against gun violence in the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

9. Number of US citizens backing gun control rises: poll

The number of US citizens who want more gun control is growing, an NPR/Ipsos poll said. Three-quarters of Americans said gun laws should be stricter than they are today, up from 68 per cent in a October 2017 survey following the Las Vegas shooting, Xinhua cited the latest poll as saying. The poll also found widespread bipartisan support for gun-control policies, including expanding background check for all gun buyers (94 per cent), adding people with mental illnesses to the federal gun background check system (92 per cent), raising the legal age to purchase guns from 18 to 21 (82 per cent), banning bump stocks (81 per cent), banning high-capacity ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds (73 per cent) and banning assault-style weapons (72 per cent).

10. Trump accused of backpedaling on gun control

President Donald Trump stood accused of caving in to the US gun lobby one month after the Florida school shooting, as the White House pushed ahead with plans to arm teachers but backpedaled on curbing access to assault rifles.

Under pressure to act after a teenager killed 17 people with a semi-automatic rifle in Parkland, Trump had signalled support for raising from 18 to 21 the federal minimum age for purchasing the powerful weapons.

But measures unveiled by his administration Sunday made no mention of any such action -- nor of enforcing the vetting of buyers for firearm sales that take place online and at gun shows, another idea floated by the White House.