Schoolboy gunman kills three classmates

A teenager pulled out a gun and fired shots amid screams and pandemonium in an Argentinian classroom today, leaving three pupils dead and six others wounded.

Police said the shooting occurred minutes before the start of classes in the Islas Malvinas (Falkland Islands) school in Carmen de Patagones, a city 610 miles south of Buenos Aires.

Mario Oporto, education minister for the province, said the dead and injured were all students.

Two of the dead were girls and two of the injured were in critical condition.

A 15-year-old was arrested.

The bloody episode touched off immediate debate about rising violence in state schools in Argentina, a country of 36 million people long considered one of the safest in South America.

Stabbings and beatings of students and teachers have been mounting in recent weeks, raising public debate before the shooting about bringing more control to the nation’s schools.