A Texas high school student has died after being shot just outside the school building on Monday as authorities continue to investigate what motivated the accused juvenile gunman.
The male student was found with an apparent gunshot wound outside Lamar High School in Arlington when officers responded to reports of a shooting at 6:55 a.m. before many students arrived at the campus for their first day of class after spring break, the Arlington Police Department said.
The student was rushed in critical condition to a local hospital, where he later died of his injuries, according to officials.
Gunfire also grazed a female student, who was rushed to a hospital by an adult who was nearby. Police said she suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office will identify the victims after notifying their families. Officials have declined to give their ages or grades.
Going off witness descriptions of the suspected shooter, officers found a male juvenile at the scene who matched the reports. Officers surrounded the suspect and took him into custody without incident. Police said a weapon was also recovered nearby but did not provide further details.
The juvenile suspect never entered the school, and ran from the campus immediately after opening fire, according to police. Where the shooter got the weapon and his motive both remain unclear.
The school went into lockdown during the shooting. Police completed their search of the school building at 10:40 a.m., and students were reunited with their parents around 11 a.m.
Police Chief Al Jones expressed condolences to the victims’ families and to all the students and staff at Lamar High School, saying in a statement that the community cannot tolerate this kind of violence.
“We need gun owners to be responsible and to properly secure their firearms, so they don’t end up on our school campuses,” Jones said. “We will continue to work in lock step with our partners at Arlington ISD to ensure our schools are safe spaces where students can learn.”
The school remained closed Tuesday, according to FOX4 Dallas-Forth Worth, and counselors would be made available to students when they return to campus Wednesday.
The suspect has not been publicly identified because he is a minor, police said.
He was charged with one count of capital murder and was being held at the Tarrant County Juvenile Detention Center. Police said more charges are possible pending the outcome of the investigation.
In Texas, people convicted of capital murder can be sentenced to death. Prosecutors make the ultimate decision about what charges to pursue in a case, and those are not always the same as the charges brought upon arrest.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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