A student gunman opened fire with a handgun in the cafeteria of a high school east of Cleveland on Monday, injuring five students before he was chased from the building by a teacher and gave himself up, law enforcement officials said.
Chardon High School was immediately put on lockdown, according to Scott Wilson, spokesman for the regional office of the FBI, which sent a SWAT team to the school.
The Ohio shooting is the worst at a U.S. high school in 11 months and the worst in Ohio since late 2007, according to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
The five injured students -- four boys and one girl -- were taken to area hospitals, according to officials from the Geauga County Sheriff's Department.
Three were flown to the trauma center at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland. Two others were at Hillcrest Hospital in Mayfield Heights, a suburb of Cleveland. A spokeswoman for Hillcrest Hospital said on CNN that one of the students taken there was in serious condition and the other was stable.
Emergency vehicles rushed to the scene, where students streamed from the building to meet parents. The entire school district was closed for the day.
"All of our high school students are now safe," Joseph Bergant, superintendent of Chardon schools said on local television, which was relayed by CNN. Chardon is about 35 miles east of Cleveland.
"The alleged person who did the damage is in custody," Bergant said.
The shooter was chased by a teacher out of the building. The shootings started in the cafeteria. He later turned himself in to a bystander, officials said.
Three of the male students shot are believed to be from Auburn Career Academy, a vocational school with 700 juniors and seniors, taken from 11 surrounding school districts including Chardon, said Superintendent Maggie Lynch.
"From what we have received three of our students have been shot, three boys," Superintendent Maggie Lynch said. Two of the boys are 17, and a third was 16, all juniors.
They were waiting in the cafeteria to board a bus for Auburn when the shooting occurred.
Chardon resident Teresa Hunt said on local television she had been receiving messages from her daughter, a student at the high school.
Hunt told local News Channel 5 that her daughter, an 18-year-old senior, heard five shots in the school cafeteria at about 7:30 a.m. local time.
According to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, this is the worst U.S. K-12 school shooting in 11 months and the worst in Ohio since late 2007.
*UPDATE*
BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: One student shot at Ohio school has died. Four others were also wounded. Police have arrested the suspected gunman, a student.
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