School shooting tragedy: One person dead after two students open fire in US

A student has died and eight others injured after a shooting at a school in suburban Denver.

The shooting occurred at STEM School Highlands Ranch, a public school with more than 1850 students in kindergarten through to grade 12.

Police called it an “active and unstable scene”. Two are in custody but police are trying to determine if a third person was involved.

Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said two male students, one adult and one juvenile, walked into the school and opened fire in two classrooms. He said only students ages 15 and older were wounded.

One student has since died, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office tweeted.

“It is with extreme sadness that we can confirm that 1 student at the STEM School was killed in today’s incident,” it tweeted.

“The immediate family has been notified.”

Douglas County Coroner Jill Romann has not officially identified the student but is stating the victim is an 18-year-old male.

However, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office tweeted while a lot of information about the shooting has emerged, “which is not all accurate”.

The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are also responding tot he shooting, Denver7 reported.

Sheriff Spurlock added handgun was recovered, but he didn’t release more information on weapons.

Three area hospitals reported treating eight teens in connection with the attack. Several are said to be critical.

A man, claiming to be a father to one of the students, told radio station KOA the shooters went into his son’s classroom.

He claims the students tried to tackle the shooters and disarm them.

‘This is the the third time’

Steve Holley, a father of a Year 6 student at the school, tweeted his son is safe after the shooting.

“I’m sitting in a gym with hundreds of parents waiting to see their kids,” Mr Holley tweeted.

“This is the third time I’ve had to pick up my boys from school due to a lockdown.”

He tweeted his son is OK but “there was glass everywhere” at the school.

“He started to cry after he said he saw a girl who had been shot being carried out,” he tweeted.

“I asked if he was safe, told him I was on my way, and that I loved him.

‘I’m starting to feel it now’

Rocco DeChalk, who lives near the school, told television station KUSA that he saw so many students running past his house that at first he thought it was a gym class.

He went outside and saw a teenage boy who had been shot in the back being helped by a teacher and another student.

They brought the boy into his kitchen and alerted a police officer, who sent for an ambulance.

“He made a comment, ‘Oh, I’m starting to feel it now,’” Mr DeChalk said.

“I told him that was probably the adrenaline kicking in and he was going into shock.”

Kelley Paulson, a mum of two students at the school, told news station Denver7 she’s still waiting to hear from one of her kids.

Her son Christian added he was studying in a room when he saw students run past screaming about a shooter.

“And I’m like, what? ‘Is this real or fake?’ And then I just went after them,” Christian told the news station.

“And apparently, this is all real. And I tried to run with my life, but I’m out of breath.”

Nyki Giassoli, another mum of two students at the school, told CBS 9 Denver her daughter called her after the shooting and was “hysterical”.

“So I had to calm her down and find out what happened,” Ms Giassoli told the news station.

With AAP

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