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School shooter in Washington state is apprehended; 1 student dead

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People hurry toward Freeman High School in Rockford, Wash., following a deadly shooting there.
People hurry toward Freeman High School in Rockford, Wash., following a deadly shooting there.
Nick Geranios

A student at a high school in rural Washington state opened fire outside a biology classroom on Wednesday, killing another student and wounding three others before being caught.

The shooting occurred at Freeman High School in the tiny town of Rockford, about 26 miles south of Spokane near the Idaho border.

"I was putting my backpack away and I heard a loud pop, and I turned around. He was walking around," Elisa Vigil, a 14-year-old freshman, told the Spokesman-Review.

"He had his pistol. His face was completely passive. He shot someone in the head. I crouched down in the hall. I looked up and a girl screamed, 'Help me, help me, help me.' The hall was empty. She was shot in the back. I looked to my right, and there was a boy and he was shot in the head."

Spokane County Sheriff Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich told reporters the attacker was stopped by a school custodian.

According to The Associated Press, Brian Schaffer of the Spokane Fire Department said one student died at the scene and three others were taken to a local hospital and were expected to survive.

"The shooter has been apprehended and is taken into custody,"said Schaffer.

The name of the shooter has not been released, but he is reported to be a sophomore. Authorities have not commented on a possible motive.

Another student, Michael Harper, 15, said the suspect "was always nice and funny and weird."

Harper also said that the suspect had shared a note with some friends saying that he "was going to do something stupid."

In a statement, Gov. Jay Inslee said, "All Washingtonians are thinking of the victims and their families, and are grateful for the service of school staff and first responders working to keep our students safe." Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

(2017-09-14 04:00:00 UTC):

An earlier version of this story referred to Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee as Winslee.