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A former student opened fire inside a charter school in Houston, injuring an employee, the city’s police chief said on Friday. The 25-year-old suspect was taken into custody without incident and no students were injured.
At 11:46 a.m. CT, police responded to reports of a shooting at YES Prep Southwest High School. The building’s front door was locked, but the suspect entered the building by shooting through a glass door, Chief Troy Finner said.
The suspect immediately fired his rifle, shooting the school employee in the back, Finner said. The injured employee was taken to a local hospital in serious condition.
“I don’t think anyone or any child should witness this, but this is the world we live in,” Finner said.
Students from the school, YES Prep Southwest Secondary, were transported to a staging area where parents could pick them up, the school said. Almost 1,000 students attend the school, ranging from grades 6 to 12.
The school asked parents to avoid driving to school and instead asked them to meet with the students in a nearby assembly area. “Please don’t drive to school; the roads are blocked by the Houston Police Department. We are collecting information and will pass it on as soon as we can,” the statement said.
Tonya Armstrong, a parent, said her daughter called her and said a gunman was inside her school building. “I was trying to be calm and I see all these kids running around with their hands up and crying,” Armstrong told KTRK. “And my heart was just broken.”
One student said the school practiced active marksmanship just two days before the shooting. The student said she saw a “pulled up” window and blood in the hallway.
“First they told us to run outside, then they told us to run into the gym and go into a room, close the door, turn off the lights and get down on the floor,” he said. the student told KTRK. “It was really scary. Everyone was crying. I was trying to keep everyone calm.”
“We had just practiced confinement and now it’s really happening,” she added.
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