A student at Sparks Middle School shot and killed a teacher and wounded two other students Monday morning before fatally turning the gun on himself, police said.
Two unidentified males were wounded in the shooting and were taken to Renown Regional Medical Center in critical condition, a spokeswoman said. The Reno Gazette-Journal is trying to confirm the identity of the shooter and the teacher, who was reportedly a popular math teacher there, according to eyewitness accounts. Police said the teacher who was shot was trying to protect students.
Police said the shooting happened at 7:15 a.m. and students were evacuated to nearby Agnes Risley Elementary School and then to Sparks High School, where parents picked up their children.
At an 11 a.m. press conference, officials said of the two injured students, one was out of surgery and the other was doing well.
Eyewitness Kyle Nucum, 13, an eighth-grader at the middle school, said he was at the basketball court outside when the shooting happened.
“We heard a pop, like a loud pop, and everybody was screaming and the teacher came to investigate,” Nucum said Monday morning. “I thought it was a firecracker at first, but the student was pointing a gun at the teacher after the teacher told him to put it down, and the student fired a shot at the teacher and the teacher fell and everybody ran away.
“And we ran across the field to get somewhere safe and while we were running we heard about four or five more shots and we just got somewhere safe. This lady let us into her house.”
Authorities released few details about the shooting during a 9:15 a.m. press conference at Agnes Risley Elementary School.
Michelle Hernandez, a student at the middle school, said she saw the shooter Monday morning.
“I heard him saying, ‘Why you people making fun of me, why you laughing at me,’” Hernandez said.
Seth Hinchberger, an eighth-grader at Sparks Middle School, said the shooter “pulled out a weapon and just shot it. And scared all of us and we just started running.”
