US: Husband shoots teacher in front of pupils

A teacher’s husband charged into her classroom today and stabbed and shot her as students watched, police said.

He later was found dead in his home after apparently shooting himself during a stand off with police.

The teacher, Christi Layne, was in critical condition at Cabell Huntington Hospital in nearby Huntington, West Virginia, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The shooting happened around 9am at Notre Dame Elementary, a Catholic school in Portsmouth, Ohio.

Student Emmaly Baker said she hid in the classroom’s coatroom when the gunman came in.

“We heard gunshots, and we heard her yelling. I was scared,” she told WSAZ-TV.

“The police officer came and got us and she was still laying there and she was hurt really bad.”

The suspect fled, and for hours after the shooting, a police commando team surrounded a house about two miles away.

Neighbours said they heard gunshots coming from the house, which prompted police fire. Police Chief Charles Horner said after the conflict ended that the man apparently shot himself.