Three dead in shooting at Missouri high school

Students stand in a parking lot near the Central Visual & Performing Arts High School after a reported shooting at the school in St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. (David Carson/St Louis Post-Dispatch via AP/PA)

Police have said three people are dead after a shooting at a high school in Missouri.

Police commissioner Michael Sack said the three included an adult, a girl and the gunman.

The shooting was reported just after 9am on Monday at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in St Louis, prompting hundreds of students and staff to run from the building. The school was immediately surrounded by dozens of police vehicles.

St Louis Public Schools said on Twitter that the gunman was “quickly stopped” by police.

People gather outside after a shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts high school in St Louis (Jordan Opp/St Louis Post-Dispatch via AP/PA)

TV reports said officers entered the area with guns drawn shortly after 9am. Crime tape was placed around the school and parents were directed to another school building to reunite with their children.

The FBI said in a statement that there was no longer an “immediate threat” at the school. Police told TV stations at the scene that six people injured included one person who suffered cardiac arrest, and the others suffered gunshot or shrapnel wounds.

No further details about the injuries were immediately released.

One student, 16-year-old Taniya Gholston, told reporters she was in a room when the gunman entered.

“All I heard was two shots and he came in there with a gun,” she said. “And I was trying to run and I couldn’t run. Me and him made eye contact but I made it out because his gun got jammed. But we saw blood on the floor.”

Another student, Nylah Jones, said she was in maths class when the gunman fired into the room from the hallway. The gunman was unable to get into the room and banged on the door as students piled into a corner, she said.