Three individuals were killed in a high school shooting in St. Louis, Missouri, including an adult woman, a teenage girl, and the suspect, according to local authorities.
How the gunman entered the Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in South St. Louis is still unknown, and authorities have failed to provide an explanation.
Monday, St. Louis Police Department Chief Michael Sack informed reporters, “The doors were secured.” The school was shut down.
Sack lauded the school’s security crew, stating that they did a “excellent job recognizing the suspect’s attempts to enter and instantly alerting other staff members and ensuring that we were called.”
“The door did prompt the suspect to halt. It gained us some time “Sack said.
When questioned by another reporter how the shooter gained access to the school if the doors were secured, Sack said, “We will not discuss that.”
Sack noted that the shooting occurred on the third floor of the school, although it is unclear how the shooter reached that floor.
Sack stated that his agency received a 911 call at 9:10 a.m. local time regarding an active shooter at the school.
As students fled the building, officers were on the scene and entered the school within minutes.
Sack stated that the suspect, a man approximately 20 years old, was carrying a long gun.
Sack claimed that when police discovered the shooter in the school, they engaged him in gunfire, ultimately killing him.
The perpetrator was subsequently transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His identity and cause of death have not been disclosed.
Sack stated that eight persons, including the gunman, were transferred from the school to area hospitals.
One of these individuals was the adult female victim of gunshot wounds. She was also declared deceased at the hospital.
The teen girl was pronounced dead at the scene, with gunshot wounds presumed to be the cause of death.
Sack stated that those still being treated at the hospital have a range of ailments, including shrapnel wounds and gunshot wounds. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, someone was being treated for cardiac arrest.
The St. Louis Police Department and Central Visual and Performing Arts High School did not reply immediately to requests for comment from Insider.