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Join the Survivors

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This presentation ends with what you will do personally to lower the amount of school shootings. This could mean protesting, voting differently or just standing up along with the survivors

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Now look at what students at Chaska high school think about gun control

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Now relize other countries don't have this problem

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Read to see how things could change

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Next Hear the survivors speak up for change

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Now hear the horrors for yourself

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See how students responded

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Next understand more about each major shooting

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Start by seeing how many places are affected by this

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Survey Results from a Chaska High school students

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The mass shooting that left 17 dead at a high school in Parkland, Florida, earlier this month has led to new calls for gun control legislation in the US. Polling indicates that public support for such a move is at its highest point in two decades - although Republican support is soft, making an act of Congress less likely.

Here we assess the likelihood of federal action on five policies that have risen to the fore after Parkland.

State action may also be possible. That's significant, because gun laws in the United States vary dramatically from state to state, with respect to types of guns that are permitted, where they are permitted, how they can be purchased, how they may be used, how they must be registered and more.

It's notable that none of the measures being discussed on Capitol Hill after the Parkland shootings rank at the top of the list of measures that experts have identified as the most urgent for reducing gun violence in the United States. To learn more about those, read our investigation: What could actually work to fix gun violence in America - and what doesn't.

break the cycle embed

Ban bump stocks

Donald Trump on Monday vowed to ban bump stocks - rifle accessories used to mimic automatic fire - telling a group of governors: "I am writing that out" and "I'm getting rid of them."

The Trump administration may be able to take unilateral action to do this, though some legislators have warned that such a ban would be a matter for Congress, and any such action is likely to face legal challenges. "The only way to close this loophole permanently is legislation," the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, said of a bump stock ban.

For Trump to enact the ban, his justice department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms would have to overturn a previous ruling that bump stocks could be regulated under the 1934 National Firearms Act, which strictly regulates machine guns and other especially dangerous weapons.

A bill to ban bump stocks sponsored by the California senator Dianne Feinstein after the accessory was used in the country's deadliest mass shooting, last year in Las Vegas, stalled out in Congress but could be revived.

Background checks

A strong majority of Americans support stricter background checks for gun purchases. And a piece of bipartisan legislation currently before Congress, the Fix Nics 2017 Act, could start to tighten the country's background checks system. (Nics stands for the National Instant Background Checks System.)

Trump has signaled his support for better background checks:

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
Whether we are Republican or Democrat, we must now focus on strengthening Background Checks!

But as the Guardian's correspondent on gun violence, Lois Beckett, has explained, the "Fix Nics" legislation, which has been endorsed by the powerful gun lobby group the National Rifle Association (NRA), is very far from universal background checks for gun buyers:

The bipartisan Fix Nics Act that Trump is now supporting does not change the categories of who is barred from buying a gun, or even require all gun buyers to pass a background check before they can purchase a firearm ...

Instead, it simply provides federal agencies with a few more incentives to submit records to the background check system - something they are already required by law to do.

At least three men who went on to commit high-profile mass shootings should have been barred by law from buying guns, but got them anyway because of background check system failures.

The House of Representatives has passed a version of the "Fix Nics" bill but packaged it with legislation to allow national concealed carry of handguns, which is a top legislative priority of the NRA. The package together is not seen as passable in the Senate, and John Cornyn of Texas, a key Senate sponsor, has said he would try to pass the Fix Nics legislation separately.

Critics also consider the Fix Nics legislation insufficient to ensure screening for mental health problems or domestic abuse patterns among potential gun purchasers.

Q&A
Why is the National Rifle Association so powerful?
Show Hide

It's not (just) about the money. In 2017, the NRA spent at least $4.1m on lobbying - more than the $3.1m it spent in all of 2016. But for comparison, the dairy industry has spent $4.4m in the same period, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP). The National Association of Realtors, one of the biggest spenders, has paid out $32.2m lobbying on housing issues.

The NRA has plenty of cash to spend. It bet big on the 2016 US elections, pouring $14.4m into supporting 44 candidates who won and $34.4m opposing 19 candidates who lost, according to CRP.

But "the real source of its power, I believe, comes from voters," said Adam Winkler, a UCLA professor of constitutional law.

The 145-year-old organization claims 5 million active members, that number is disputed, but whatever its actual size, membership is a powerful tool, said Robert Spitzer, a professor at the State University of New York at Cortland.

"They have a very powerful ability to mobilize a grassroots support and to engage in politics when most Americans can barely be bothered to vote," he said. "And because so few Americans do those things, if you get a bunch of people in a locality who are all prepared to go out to a meeting they can have a big effect." Read more

Photograph: Mark Humphrey/AP

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Age limit rise

The Florida governor, Rick Scott, last week proposed a rise in the minimum age - from 18 to 21 - for purchasing semi-automatic weapons such as the AR-15. Three Republican senators have signaled support for the idea.

The proposal was seen as out of character for Scott, a Republican with a top rating from the NRA. He made no comparable call for gun control after the 2016 shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando that killed 49 and wounded 58.

But the NRA vehemently opposes changing the national minimum age for purchases of so-called long guns, and Cornyn, the Texas senator, recently dismissed the idea, making passage in the Senate anytime soon unlikely.

Semi-automatic weapons ban

In a march on the Florida statehouse in Tallahassee following the Parkland shootings, students who had survived called for a new assault weapons ban, starting with a ban in the Florida legislature.

But a proposal last week in Florida to debate a ban on semi-automatic weapons never even made it to the floor of the legislature.

On Capitol Hill, meanwhile, a Democrat in the House introduced a ban on military-style assault weapons and others, but with Republicans in the majority that bill seemed a non-starter.

Beckett, our correspondent, has noted the suggestion of experts that it may be more effective to focus simply on limiting ammunition capacity rather than on banning military-style weapons.

Arming teachers

"If you had a teacher who was adept at firearms, they could very well end the attack very quickly," Trump said in a meeting with students after the Parkland shootings.

But almost no one with substantial experience in schools - teachers' groups and school boards - thinks the idea is a good one. State legislative efforts to arm teachers in Alabama, Indiana and elsewhere have gathered no steam. All but four states have laws restricting guns in school zones. Nevertheless, Trump has continued to push the idea.

break the cycle epic
Topics

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What gun control proposals are being considered - and will they succeed?

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The mass shooting that left 17 dead at a high school in Parkland, Florida, earlier this month has led to new calls for gun control legislation in the US. Polling indicates that public support for such a move is at its highest point in two decades - although Republican support is soft, making an act of Congress less likely.

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"What we must do now is enact change because that is what we do to things that fail: We change them."

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"We cannot protect our guns before we protect our children."

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"The right to bear arms ... does not and never will overpower the individual's right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

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some of the most powerful quotes from the #neveragain rallies  - cnn

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Some of the most powerful quotes from the #NeverAgain rallies

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Student activists from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, along with groups of protesters around the country, spoke out loud and clear on Wednesday.

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A tweet from one of the survivors of the parkland shooting

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AUDIO: Initial emergency dispatch to active shooter situation at Noblesville middle shcool

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Highland High School Shooting: Victim Shot in Arm, 14-Year-Old Detained

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A suspect has been taken into custody after a gunman was reported at Highland High School in Palmdale Friday morning.

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(Reuters) - Indiana authorities on Saturday were yet to charge and identify the student who they say was responsible for wounding a teacher and student at a middle school in what media is reporting as the 23rd shooting on a United States campus in 2018.

The student, who was being held by police, was armed with two handguns when he shot a science teacher and another student in a science classroom at a Noblesville West Middle School on Friday morning, police in the community 25 miles (42 km) northeast of Indianapolis said.

Police said on Friday they were investigating the shooter's motive and how he obtained the guns. They did not detail how he was stopped, but witnesses told local media that the teacher knocked the guns away and wrestled the suspect to the floor despite being wounded.

As of early Saturday, authorities had not identified the student or filed charges against him.

The shooting, by CNN's count, was the 23rd in the United States this year and comes just a week after a high school student in Santa Fe, Texas, shot and killed eight classmates and two teachers.

The shooting incidents in 2018 on campuses across the nation have ranged from a teacher accidentally discharging a gun during a public safety class at a California high school, injuring a student, to a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida that left 17 people dead, CNN reported.

The shootings have fueled debate about how to keep campuses safe.

"Here we go again ... I wish I had an answer," Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter said to reporters. "It's another sad day."

The suspect in Friday's shooting had excused himself from class and came back armed with the pistols and opened fire in a science class, authorities said. Police apprehended him in the classroom.

A police guard at the school responded to the shooting, and other law enforcement officers arrived within minutes, police said in a statement.

The wounded teacher was identified as Jason Seaman, 29. The unidentified girl was in critical condition at an Indianapolis hospital, police said.

Seaman's mother, Kristi Seaman, said on Facebook that he was shot through the abdomen, in the hip and in the forearm and was doing well after surgery.

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Suspect wounds teacher, fellow student in 23rd school shooting in 2018

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Indiana authorities on Saturday were yet to charge and identify the student who they say was responsible for wounding a teacher and student at a middle school in what media is reporting as the 23rd shooting on a United States campus in 2018.

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A vigil for the victims of the shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas on Friday. Credit Credit Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times

One student was busy planning for his 17th birthday party. Another, an exchange student from Pakistan, was preparing for her return home, asking that her mother cook her favorite dinner. Others had ordinary teenage plans ahead - for Xbox and tennis games, for bickering with siblings, for a new bedroom.

After the shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas, relatives and friends were mourning the loss of 10 people - eight students and two teachers - and preparing for funerals and memorials.

Lost, too, were all the plans.

"She should be worrying about getting her driver's license, making plans for summer break, maybe start thinking junior year and making plans for college and what she wants be when she grows up," Ericha Fisher Farris, an aunt of Shana Fisher, who died in the shooting, wrote on Facebook. "She should be at home rolling her eyes from fighting with her little sister."

Cynthia Tisdale, one of the teachers who died, had planned one day to retire and be a "full-time grandmother," John Tisdale, her brother-in-law, said.

"It will never happen."

Here are the stories of the people who perished following the shooting at Santa Fe High School.

Jared Black's favorite class was art, his family said, and that was where he was on Friday morning. He had turned 17 earlier in the week, and he couldn't wait for his birthday party on Saturday.

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Jared Black. Credit

Elizabeth McGinnis, a family friend, said Jared's father, Robert Black, had wondered aloud how this could happen to someone like Jared. "He would never hurt anyone," she recalled Jared's father saying.

Nick Black, Jared's half brother, said he wished he could see him one more time.

"My brother loved to play Minecraft on Xbox, play Pokemon Go on his cellphone, and loved art," Mr. Black said, in a statement he wrote with a close friend. "We miss him so much."

Shana Fisher, who was also in the art room at the time of the attack, had just turned 16.

The family waited and searched and hoped, all of Friday.

Kyle Harris, a sophomore, said he and Ms. Fisher had been close since they were children. She loved art and music, he said, and would show him photos of artwork she liked when they rode the bus to school together.

"She stood up to bullies for me when we were little," he said. "She's always done what she felt was the right thing to do."

Tammy Fisher Whalen, an aunt, wrote that Ms. Fisher was "one of the sweetest kids you would ever meet."

"Shana I love you sweet girl," Ms. Whalen wrote. "I'm sorry we couldn't help you."

Christian Riley Garcia, 15, wrote a message a few days ago on the door frame of what was going to be his new bedroom. A photograph of a house under construction showed Christian, in sunglasses, beside the message - a scripture passage that read, in part: "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth."

Christian Riley Garcia. Credit

A Texas pastor, Keenan Smith of Crosby Church, posted the image on Facebook. He said that he had baptized Christian years ago and that Christian had grown up in the church.

"Tonight we all mourn," the pastor wrote, "because of the senseless unexplainable loss that sweeps through our nation, and certainly our area."

Aaron Kyle McLeod, a 15-year-old freshman whose friends called him Kyle, had the sort of cheery kindness about him that crosses generational lines. Other teenagers saw it, but so did adults.

Cassandra Garza, 16, had played tennis with him. He was "so sweet, so considerate," she said.

Kyle's next-door neighbor Harry Monych, a retired newspaper editor and publisher, said Kyle was always quick with a wide smile.

"I always saw him get off the bus every day, and I'd see him wave at us," Mr. Monych said. "He's a great kid, a very friendly person."

A multicolored bouquet and a cluster of red, white and blue flowers sat on the sidewalk outside Kyle's house over the weekend, along with two candles.

Glenda Ann Perkins was a substitute teacher at Santa Fe High School - which meant, in a way, that she was everybody's teacher.

"She really connected with the kids," Kyle Harris said. "She was an absolute angel."

Zachary Muehe, another sophomore, said Ms. Perkins was "everyone's favorite substitute," even among students who had graduated.

Mr. Muehe was in art class on Friday morning when the shooting began, and he said he saw Ms. Perkins in the classroom next door as he tried to escape.

In a statement, Ms. Perkins's relatives offered advice they said she would have wanted to give in this moment. "We know Ann would want the students and faculty of Santa Fe High School, to whom she lovingly dedicated so much of her time, to remember to keep their hearts open, to discuss their feelings with family members, friends, and counselors in order to successfully conquer this tragedy."

Family and friends called Angelique Ramirez compassionate and funny, a loving older sister with a contagious smile.

"With a broken heart and a soul that just can't process all this right now, I have to announce my niece was one of the fatalities," her aunt, Sylvia Pritchett, wrote in a Facebook post. "Please keep all the families in your thoughts, and hug your children tightly."

Sabika Sheikh, 17, was supposed to return home to Pakistan in a matter of weeks. After months at Santa Fe High School as part of an exchange program sponsored by the State Department, Sabika had asked her mother to cook her favorite meal when she was to get back on June 9. She had asked her younger brother, Ali, to straighten up her room for her arrival. She had spoken to her younger sister on the telephone just hours before the shooting started.

"She was thinking big, at such a young age," her father, Abdul Aziz Sheikh, said from his home in Karachi. "Sabika was a very talented and obedient child."

He said he learned of his daughter's death after seeing news reports and trying - again and again - to dial and text his daughter's telephone. "There was nothing I heard back from her," he said.

Mr. Sheikh eventually heard from exchange program leaders that his daughter had died in the shooting. He called on American officials to enact stronger gun regulations, and said he hoped no other family would have to experience such pain.

"I knew the pain of losing a child," he said, "and pray to God, no parent would go through this situation."

On the Pakistani Embassy in Washington's Facebook page, Pakistan's ambassador to the United States expressed condolences to families of the victims.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Sabika's family and friends," the ambassador, Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, said.

American officials said Sabika had been part of the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program. A State Department official said the department extended its deepest condolences to Sabika's family and friends, and that David Hale, the ambassador to Pakistan, was reaching out to her family.

"As an exchange student, Sabika was a youth ambassador, a bridge between our peoples and cultures," Mr. Hale said on Facebook on Saturday. "All of us at the U.S. Mission in Pakistan are devastated by and mourn her loss. We will honor her memory."

At 17 years old, Christopher Stone was the baby of the family, the youngest of three siblings. But he still played the role of protector to his sisters, Angelica and Mercedez, as if he were the oldest, said his father, who is also named Christopher.

"Being a brother was his best job," Mr. Stone said. "He was always there if someone needed someone to listen or some cheering up."

Chris was adventurous beyond his years, the life of the party, up for any thrill. He hiked mountains in Colorado. Zip-lined in Alabama. Parasailed in Mexico.

He was a football player for Santa Fe High School. Not the biggest guy on the team, his father said, "but he had lots of heart."

On Twitter, Chris's friends mourned his death, remembering his easy charm and happy nature. At a quinceañera, one friend wrote, Chris danced up a storm. "We both had two left feet," she wrote. "You were always smiling."

Ms. Tisdale, a teacher, was a member of Anchor Bible Baptist Church in Pharr, Tex., her family said.

Mr. Tisdale, her brother-in-law, asked friends to pray for Ms. Tisdale's husband, the Rev. William Recie Tisdale, and their children.

"We never know when our death will come," he wrote.

Rhonda Hart wrote on Facebook that her daughter, Kimberly Vaughan, was one of the victims, a student in first-period art class.

Kim Vaughan, left, with her mother, Rhonda Hart. Credit Rhonda Hart, via Facebook

She hashtagged her message with #fightforkim and #oneof10.

"Folks - call your damn senators. Call your congressmen," she wrote. "We need GUN CONTROL. WE NEED TO PROTECT OUR KIDS."

Jacey Fortin, Susan C. Beachy and Jack Begg contributed reporting and research from New York; Haroon Janjua from Islamabad; Dave Montgomery from Santa Fe, Tex.; and Monica Davey in Chicago.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A11 of the New York edition with the headline: The 10 Who Died in the Santa Fe School Shooting. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

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Santa Fe School Shooting Victims: Here Are Their Stories

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One student was busy planning for his 17th birthday party. Another, an exchange student from Pakistan, was preparing for her return home, asking that her mother cook her favorite dinner. Others had ordinary teenage plans ahead - for Xbox and tennis games, for bickering with siblings, for a new bedroom.

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A student gunman who opened fire inside his southeast Maryland high school Tuesday morning - wounding two teens - was shot by a school safety officer and later died at a local hospital, authorities said.

Austin Wyatt Rollins, 17, whipped out a Glock 9-mm. handgun and shot a 16-year-old girl, whom he possibly had a relationship with, inside Great Mills High School just before 8 a.m., police said.

A 14-year-old boy was also wounded, but officials said it wasn't clear who shot him. He was hospitalized in good condition.

Blaine Gaskill, a resource officer who also serves as a SWAT team member, rushed to the hallway where Rollins was, and the two fired at each other.

The officer wasn't hurt, but his bullet struck Rollins.

Rollins was rushed to a nearby hospital where he died at about 10:40 a.m., according to St. Mary's County Sheriff Timothy Cameron.

Investigators were still trying to determine if Rollins killed himself or if Gaskill fatally shot him.

The girl, who was identified by local media as Jaelynn Willey, is in critical condition with life-threatening injuries.

Jaelynn's family describes her as an "amazing young lady" who loves her fellow students.

"It is hard for us not to see her shining, smiling face right now, and to see her light up the room with her presence," her family said in a statement.

Investigators are trying to determine if their past relationship was a motive behind the shooting, Cameron said.

The shooting rattled Great Mills, a town of about 6,000 located 60 miles southeast of Washington, as officials described it as their "worst nightmare" and "worst fear."

"It's tragic," Gov. Larry Hogan said Tuesday afternoon. "Our hearts are broken."

He slammed state lawmakers for not passing tougher penalties for violent offenders and allocating money to school safety officers.

"We have to take action," the Republican said. "I wish I could tell you that it's not going to happen again."

But Hogan praised the deputy's initial response, saying he followed protocol and stopped the mayhem.

"It sure sounds like this is the exact way it should have been handled," Hogan said of Gaskill. "This is a tough guy who apparently closed in very quickly and took the right kind of action."

The sheriff's department has a certified officer assigned to all three St. Mary's County high schools, according to its website, to "maintain a safe learning environment."

Students poured out of the school or fled in classrooms as the shots rang out.

Student Terrence Rhames was outside his first-period art class when he and a few friends heard "a loud shot" and fled to safety.

"As soon as we heard it, we started running," he told MSNBC.

The 18-year-old senior saw a girl with a blond ponytail fall to the floor, as stunned students and faculty tried to figure out what was happening.

"We saw the teacher looking at us with a confused look," Rhames told MSNBC.

The facility's nearly 1,600 students were evacuated to Leonardtown High School about 10 miles west to be reunited with their families, St. Mary's County officials said.

Parents flagged school officials last month about threats over Snapchat that a student could shoot up the school.

Principal Jake Heibel told parents the threats were "not substantiated," after faculty and the resource officer met with students.

The shooting comes just a month after 17 people were fatally shot at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., by a former student there.

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Gunman killed, two students wounded in Maryland high school shooting - NY Daily News

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A student gunman who opened fire inside his southeast Maryland high school Tuesday morning - wounding two teens - was shot by a school safety officer and later died at a local hospital, authorities said. Austin Wyatt Rollins, 17, whipped out a Glock 9-mm.

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A student who opened fire in the hallway of his Washington State high school Wednesday, killing one classmate and wounding three others, had grown obsessed with school shootings, a friend said.

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Student who fatally shot classmate in Washington high school was reportedly obsessed with school shootings - NY Daily News

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A student who opened fire in the hallway of his Washington State high school Wednesday, killing one classmate and wounding three others, had grown obsessed with school shootings, a friend said.

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Two teenagers have died and 18 other people are wounded after a shooting at a Kentucky high school this morning, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin said.

The suspect, a 15-year-old male student, was taken into custody, Bevin said.

Sixteen people suffered gunshot wounds, including the two victims who died, officials said.

A 15-year-old girl, later identified as Bailey Nicole Holt, died at the scene and a 15-year-old boy, later identified as Preston Ryan Cope, died at the hospital, officials said.

The shooting took place just before 8 a.m. local time at Marshall County High School in Benton, Kentucky, about 120 miles northwest of Nashville, Tennessee.

According to The Associated Press, 16-year-old Lexie Waymon said, "I blacked out. I couldn't move. I got up and I tried to run, but I fell. I heard someone hit the ground. It was so close to me. ... I just froze and did not know what to do. Then I got up and I ran."

Waymon ran to McDonald's, struggling to breathe, the AP said. "All I could keep thinking was, 'I can't believe this is happening,'" she said, according to the AP.

The scene has been secured, the state police said. It's believed that everyone who was injured was a student.

Five of the victims were taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, officials said.

Among the patients was the 15-year-old boy who did not survive; he was shot in the head, doctors said.

"Of the four remaining victims at Vanderbilt, three are in critical but stable condition and one is in stable condition," the state police said late Tuesday.

The suspect will be charged with two counts murder and multiple counts of attempted murder, according to Rick Sanders, Kentucky State Police commissioner.

One student told ABC affiliate WHAS in Louisville that he was in the library when he heard what sounded like a fight.

"Someone was hitting on the window. I took off my headphones and turned around and everyone was just broken up, they were running. I saw the flashes from the gunshots and by that time I was just running," he said. "We all started running toward the library office, and once we got in there, we just shut the lights off, sat down, locked the doors. We were taught what to do in a lockdown scenario and that's what everybody did."

Parent Barry Mann told the AP his 14-year-old son called him as soon as he ran out of the school.

"It sounded like his heart was in his throat," Mann said, according to the AP.

"All the parking lots were full with parents and kids hugging each other and crying and nobody really knowing what was going on," local business owner Dusty Kornbacher told the AP.

Landon Kornbacher, who graduated from this high school in 2016, told ABC News he was in "shock" as his girlfriend was inside the school and on lockdown.

"Never would have thought this would happen here," Kornbacher said.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the president has been briefed on the shooting.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the families in Marshall County," Sanders said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., tweeted today, "My thoughts are with the students, teachers, faculty, and the entire community. Thank you to the first responders who continue to put themselves in harm's way to protect others."

Closely tracking reports of the tragedy in Benton, #Kentucky at Marshall County High School and my thoughts are with the students, teachers, faculty, and the entire community. Thank you to the first responders who continue to put themselves in harm's way to protect others.
- Leader McConnell (@SenateMajLdr) January 23, 2018

"The souls of Marshall County have been bruised and the fabric of the community has been torn, but the people of Benton, KY and the surrounding communities are strong," the governor tweeted this afternoon.

The souls of Marshall County have been bruised and the fabric of the community has been torn, but the people of Benton, KY and the surrounding communities are strong...With faith in God and with reliance on friends and family, we will get through this dark day together...#WeAreKY
- Governor Matt Bevin (@GovMattBevin) January 23, 2018

Bevin said earlier in a statement, "This is a tremendous tragedy and speaks to the heartbreak present in our communities. It is unbelievable that this would happen in a small, close-knit community like Marshall County."

The school shooting in Kentucky comes a day after a 15-year-old girl in Texas was shot and injured in her high school cafeteria, allegedly by a 16-year-old male student. The 15-year-old was hospitalized in unknown condition.

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2 dead, 18 wounded in shooting at high school; suspect in custody

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Two teenagers have died and 18 other people are wounded after a shooting at a Kentucky high school this morning, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin said. The suspect, a 15-year-old male student, was taken into custody, Bevin said. Sixteen people suffered gunshot wounds, including the two victims who died, officials said.

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A middle school boy allegedly opened fire at an Indiana school Friday morning, police said, leaving a teacher and another student injured, the latest in a string of school shootings this year.

"I heard gunshots and a few screams," a seventh-grader who was across the hall from the shooting told ABC News. "I was scared, I was in shock."

The suspected shooter, a student at Noblesville West Middle School, located about 27 miles north of Indianapolis, asked to be excused from class and then returned to the room armed with two handguns, Noblesville Police Chief Kevin Jowitt said at a news conference.

The teacher and student victims were shot in that room, Jowitt said, adding that the situation was resolved quickly. The suspect, who wasn't injured and wasn't identified, was taken into custody, police said.

One student said he was in class taking a test when the suspect came in with a handgun and started shooting aimlessly, "waiving his hand around," reported ABC affiliate RTV in Indianapolis.

The teacher -- whom multiple students identified as Jason Seaman -- allegedly stopped the shooter, the student told RTV.

The family of Ella Whistler, the student injured in the shooting, released a statement Friday night saying her "status is critical" but she's "stable."

"Our daughter, Ella Whistler, was involved in a horrific shooting today at her school. We will spend the next days and weeks processing what happened and why," the statement reads. "But first, we wanted to say she is doing well at Riley Hospital for Children. Her status is critical, yet we are pleased to report she is stable. We'd like to thank everyone across the country who prayed for our family today. We've felt those prayers and appreciate each of them. We'd also like to thank the first responders, Noblesville police, Indiana State Police and the medical staff and surgeons at Riley."

Seaman was struck three times and underwent surgery, according to a Facebook post by his mother.

By Saturday he had been discharged from Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis and was photographed at Noblesville West Middle School shaking hands with U.S. Rep. Susan W. Brooks.

The local politician praised him for his bravery.

"Jason Seaman selflessly put himself in harm's way to protect his students and it is because of his heroic actions more students were not hurt," she said, according to a release.

Seaman's wife, Colette, provided an initial statement to ABC News from Jason.

"First of all, thank you to the first responders from Noblesville and Fishers for their immediate action and care," the statement from Jason said. "I want to let everyone know that I was injured but am doing great. To all the students, you are all wonderful and I thank you for your support. You are the reason I teach."

Students were forced to shelter in classrooms and barricade doors during the incident.

"I was thinking, 'It's not real, it's not real, everything is going to be OK,'" student Gabbie Manns told ABC News of her time barricaded in the classroom. "We are holding hands holding tight ... people I didn't even know that well came over and held my hand and we all felt really united at that moment."

"There was people crying ... it was really chaos," she added. "I thought about all the other school shootings."

Tanner, an eighth grader, said he was in class when he saw kids running and screaming.

"There was only three of us, we had to barricade the door to make sure no one came in," he told ABC News.

"I was shaking for my life," he said, overcome with emotion. "I just didn't wanna die."

Kendall, a sixth grader, said she heard an announcement over the intercom, telling students to get in their rooms and barricade the door. She and her classmates got in the corner and the teacher turned off the lights.

"I was really scared, I didn't really know what was going on," she told ABC News. "My teacher let me use his phone to call my mom."

"I heard gunshots and a few screams," seventh-grader CJ Livingston, who was in a classroom across from the shooting, told ABC News. "We were all trying to be quiet and there were a lot of people crying around me."

"I was scared, I was in shock. I didn't really know what to do," he continued. "I just thought I really needed to protect my peers and my friends and if something happened, I was petrified."

He said they threw chairs at the door as a barricade and then lined up behind the desks to hide.

"When I think about how that really must have felt for him I start sobbing," CJ's mother, Kristin Huber, told ABC News. "Something you don't want your children to ever have to experience."

"When you get a text message from your son saying, 'Mom, there's an intruder, I just wanted to tell you I love you,' just thinking about him texting me that is pretty tough," she said. "It was devastating. I was grateful when he let me know he was OK."

The school has a full-time school resource officer who was in the building at the time, Jowitt said.

The school does not have metal detectors, officials said.

At the nearby Noblesville East Middle School, "everybody just got so scared" and a lot of people were crying, one sixth-grade girl told RTV.

"It's a surreal feeling," the girl's dad added. "You don't think it's happening in your own town."

"A secondary threat" was also made at Noblesville High School, Jowitt said.

"We have not received any information that this has been anything other than a communicated threat," Jowitt said. "We are securing the high school and taking steps to make sure that it stays secure."

"All this says to me is insanity has hit Indiana," one man whose wife's grandson attends school in the district told RTV.

The man, who described the shooting as "chaos," said the boy texted his mother, "come get me."

Vice President Mike Pence, an Indiana native, said he is "praying for the victims."

"To everyone in the Noblesville community -- you are on our hearts and in our prayers," he wrote on Twitter. "Thanks for the swift response by Hoosier law enforcement and first responders."

Karen and I are praying for the victims of the terrible shooting in Indiana. To everyone in the Noblesville community - you are on our hearts and in our prayers. Thanks for the swift response by Hoosier law enforcement and first responders.
- Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) May 25, 2018

Gov. Eric Holcomb said he was monitoring the shooting.

"Our thoughts are with all those affected by this horrible situation," Holcomb said.

Speaker Bosma, Pro Tem Long & I are monitoring the situation at Noblesville West MS on plane to Indy from Europe. @indstatepolice are working with local responders & will offer all assistance needed. Our thoughts are with all those affected by this horrible situation.
- Eric Holcomb (@GovHolcomb) May 25, 2018

Friday morning's shooting comes one week after a teenage boy allegedly stormed his Texas high school, shooting and killing 10 and wounding 13 others.

ABC News' Alex Perez, Andy Fies, Rachel Katz, Teri Whitcraft, Ryan Burrow, Briana Montalvo and M.L. Nestel contributed to this report.

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Middle schooler returns to class with 2 guns, shoots peer, teacher: Police

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A middle school boy allegedly opened fire at an Indiana school Friday morning, police said, leaving a teacher and another student injured, the latest in a string of school shootings this year. "I heard gunshots and a few screams," a seventh-grader who was across the hall from the shooting told ABC...

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The teen gunman accused of opening fire with a semi-automatic rifle at his former high school in Parkland, Florida, has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder, officials said Thursday.

Authorities said the suspect, identified as 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, concealed himself in the crowd fleeing Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School following the massacre on Wednesday afternoon. He was arrested in nearby Coral Springs.
Related: These are the 17 victims of the Parkland school shooting
Fourteen others were wounded, five with life-threatening injuries, hospital officials said.

Cruz had recently been expelled from Douglas for disciplinary reasons and was enrolled elsewhere in the district, the schools superintendent in Broward County, Robert Runcie, said. Cruz took an Uber to the Douglas campus on Wednesday, Runcie told NBC News.
What We Know:

17 people were killed and another 14 were wounded.

Suspect identified as Nikolas Cruz, who has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. He may appear in court Thursday.

Cruz, 19, was believed to have used an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle.

Broward County Sheriff's Office set to hold a news conference at 10:30 a.m. ET Thursday.

A YouTube user named "Nikolas Cruz" reportedly posted "I'm going to be a professional school shooter" on the site.

President Donald Trump has tweeted that there were "many signs the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed." He will address the nation at 11 a.m. ET.

The gunman was believed to have been armed with an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle and multiple magazines, said Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel. It was unclear whether he had any other weapons, Israel said.

There was no indication that the gunman had an accomplice or accomplices, federal and local authorities said.

Cruz was taken into custody off campus about an hour after he "committed this horrific, detestable act," said Israel, who added investigators were reviewing social media postings that he described as "very disturbing." The suspect was treated for "labored breathing" as a precaution but was later released from the hospital, according to officials.

"You come to the conclusion this is just absolutely pure evil," said Florida Gov. Rick Scott, his hands clutched over his chest.

The FBI was alerted six months ago after a YouTube user named "Nikolas Cruz" posted a comment stating "I'm going to be a professional school shooter" on the video site, BuzzFeed reported early Thursday.

Cruz's mother died in early November and he had been staying with a local family - whose son is a junior at Douglas, the family's attorney told NBC Miami.

"He lived here without any concerns or issues for almost three months, and they are shocked and horrified by the allegations being made," the lawyer, Jim Lewis, said, adding that his clients are fully cooperating with investigators.
Related: Florida shooting leaves families distraught
The general store chain Dollar Tree confirmed that Cruz had worked at its Parkland branch.

The gunfire began outside the school and continued inside, where 12 of the victims were killed, Israel said.

All of those victims have been identified, he said, but no identities will be made public until the families have been notified.

Brandon Minoff, a senior at the school who said he had two classes with Cruz two years ago, said that while it was "surreal" to hear Cruz named as the suspect, "I wasn't surprised."

"I got paired with him for a project, and he started talking to me about his life - how he was held back twice, expelled from two private schools. He likes to do reckless stuff," Minoff said.

"He had aspirations to join the military," Minoff said. "He enjoyed hunting."

Sebastian Toala, another senior, told NBC Miami: "I never really got close to him, because I always had a feeling there was something wrong."

Parkland, in north Broward County, is about 30 miles northwest of Fort Lauderdale. The shooting on the sprawling campus happened despite the presence of police officers at the school.

Runcie, the school superintendent, said at least two police cars were typically on campus "on a daily basis."

While students filed out of the school with their hands up, heavily armed SWAT team members conducted a class-by-class search to make sure there were "no other shooters" - and to retrieve any bodies, he said.

"This is a terrible day for Broward County, the state of Florida, the United States," Israel said. "There really are no words."

The first sign that something awful was happening Wednesday came around 2:30 p.m., not long before classes were supposed to have been dismissed, when authorities were called to respond to an active shooter.

For more than an hour, the school was at the mercy of a gunman on the loose.

"He was outside and inside the school," Israel said.

Just after 4 p.m., the Broward County Sheriff's Office announced on Twitter that the suspect had been apprehended. Not long after, stunned survivors began sharing their accounts of what happened.

Several students told NBC News that the school had gone through a fire drill earlier in the day. They said the fire alarm sounded again just before the shots were heard.

Relieved parents like Lisette Rozenblet, whose daughter attends the school, also said she was told that a fire alarm was pulled about the time the shots began. But her daughter's teacher, sensing that it might be a trap, told the students to stay in the classroom, she said.

"Her biggest fear is a school shooting," Rozenblet said of her daughter. "She is always begging me to be home-schooled because she was scared of this."

Joel Leffler, whose son and daughter attend the school, said both of his kids were safe - but in shock.

"My son called me as it was unfolding, running. He had to jump a fence," Leffler said. "My son heard around eight gun shots as he was running out."

When he reached his daughter by phone, she was whispering, he said.

"My daughter, who was there in the freshman hall where the shooting took place - she's in shock right now, and she's being taken out by SWAT," Leffler said. "She saw multiple dead bodies."

President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday that there were "many signs the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed." He was scheduled to address the nation Thursday at 11 a.m. ET.

Scott, a Republican whom the National Rifle Association's Political Victory Fund gave an "A+" rating, didn't directly answer reporters' questions Wednesday about how the gunman was able to obtain a semi-automatic rifle.

"There is a time to continue to have these conversations about how, through law enforcement, how through mental illness funding, to keep people safe, and we'll continue to do that," the governor said.

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'Pure evil': 17 killed in mass shooting at Florida high school

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Nikolas Cruz, 19, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, is charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.

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This is how many school shooting we have had in 2018 alone

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America has 25 percent more gun homicide than any other country. Stand up with the survivors of these school shootings before we loose any more lives to something that could be prevented.