Image copyright Reuters Image caption Many students attended counseling services after the shooting
A 17-year-old student opened fire at a suburban Detroit high school on Friday, killing two students and injuring two others, police say.
Investigators said the gunman, armed with a handgun, fired five shots in the incident at Fitzgerald High School in Ypsilanti, which left one wounded in the head and the other in the abdomen.
The 17-year-old shooter was taken into custody.
Police said they believe the attack was an isolated incident.
They said students were not able to get out of classrooms immediately because some locked doors and other barriers were installed at school buildings to prevent possible break-ins.
The victims of the shooting at the high school in Ypsilanti, Michigan, were two 17-year-old girls and a 17-year-old boy, all of whom died of their injuries, police said.
The incident is the second fatal shooting of a Michigan high school within the past two weeks.
‘Classroom doors locked’
Ypsilanti Public Schools released a statement saying the incident was “tragic”, urging all parents to call their children for an emergency number if they were worried about them.
Image copyright Ypsilanti Public Schools Image caption Students who were not transported by ambulances to hospital were transported to a nearby recreation centre for counselling services
A police officer had arrived and taken the shooter into custody within two minutes of the first call about the incident, police said.
Ypsilanti Public Schools said all 600 students at the school had been transported to the Fitzgerald Community Centre for counselling.
Students reported hearing gunshots and watching teachers and other staff members open fire on the attacker, witnesses said.
Image copyright Ann Arbor News Image caption Two victims were killed and two injured
Police said the shooter was a male student at the school.
“Our heartfelt condolences go out to the families and friends of our school shooting victims,” acting police chief Anthony Pillarella said in a statement.
He said police were helping students who had been transported to the nearby Fitzgerald Community Centre for counselling.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption The school was evacuated following the incident
Ypsilanti is a suburb of the Detroit area, near a regional research hub that was the former home of semiconductor chipmaker Atmel Corp, and has a diverse population.
Earlier this year, a 4-year-old boy was fatally shot by a 14-year-old cousin while playing with an assault rifle in their home.
The shooter, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the child’s death, is to be sentenced in September.
Police in Ypsilanti have asked that any camera footage from inside the school or any surveillance cameras from surrounding buildings be handed over for examination.
That will include footage from the school’s hallways, parking lots and inside the auditorium, police said.