One student was fatally shot and another injured when a third student opened fire outside a Dallas-area high school before being arrested Monday morning, police said.
The shooting began on a high school campus in the suburb of Arlington around 6:55 a.m., before many students arrived for the first day back to classes after the spring break, according to police and school district officials.
One student was hit by gunfire and another was hurt by “debris from the shooting,” said Arlington Independent School District spokeswoman Anita Foster. Arlington police Chief Al Jones said Monday afternoon that the student who was shot had died at a hospital and the other victim was receiving care for injuries that aren’t life threatening.
Arlington police said the suspected shooter never entered the Lamar High School building and was arrested soon after officers arrived on the scene. They said the scene was secure in a tweet at 7:21 a.m.
The suspected shooter is a minor and will therefore not be publicly identified, said police spokesman Tim Ciesco. He said the department will provide more information during an afternoon news conference.
Foster said school buses and other arriving students were diverted from the campus before classes were set to start.
Officials urged parents and others to stay away from the campus while police investigate. Police said at 10:40 a.m. that they’d completed their search of the school building and students would be released to their guardians at a “reunification center” starting at noon.