Two U.S. schools were placed on lockdown Tuesday following separate incidents – one in North Carolina and one in Kentucky – with individuals carrying and firing guns on school grounds. Altogether, two people were shot, one associated with each incident, reports MSNBC.
A student was shot and another one was taken into police custody after an altercation at Albemarle High School in North Carolina before the start of classes early Tuesday morning. The two male students were arguing in the courtyard at the front of the building before the suspect pulled a gun from his waistband and fired twice at the other individual, once in the lower abdomen and once in the hip, Albemarle Police Chief William Halliburton told msnbc.
By the afternoon, the victim, 17-year-old Bernard Miller, underwent surgery for critical injuries at a nearby hospital. The suspect faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon and intent to kill.
Hours later in Kentucky, police began their search for a gunman who fled the scene after officers responded to reports of shots fired at Fern Creek High School in Louisville. One victim, a student, suffered non-life threatening injuries and was transported to a local hospital, police told reporters on Tuesday afternoon.
Law enforcement officials found and took the suspect into custody without incident by early Tuesday evening. Authorities described the teenager as a 15- or 16-year-old boy, whom they found at an apartment complex within walking distance of the school. They would not disclose whether or not the suspect was a student at the high school.