Six people shot at high school in Washington State, one dead

One student has died and at least six people have been shot at a high school near the city of Spokane in the US state of Washington with a suspect taken into custody.

According to a woman at the Spokane Police Department who declined to give her name, the shooting happened at Freeman High School in Rockford on Wednesday. Three other students were hospitalized at Sacred Heart Hospital, which confirmed is treating three "school age" patients who are in stable condition.

“The threat from the shooter has been eliminated”, Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer told local media. The Spokane Sheriff's Office said that officers went room to room at the school and floor by floor to secure the building.

Spokane schools were placed on lockdown with parents gathering to try and get information. The lockdown was lifted an hour later.

Cheryl Moser said her son, a freshman at Freeman High School, called her from a classroom after hearing shots fired. "He called me and said, 'Mom there are gunshots.' He sounded so scared. I've never heard him like that," Moser said. "You never think about something happening like this at a small school."

A student told KHQ Local News that her cousin had been shot and suffered serious injuries. “I’ve just heard that she’s in critical condition, which is really scary. She got shot in the side and we don’t know if it’s lodged in her spine or her colon, but we know that it’s pretty critical,” the youngster said.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee said in a statement that "all Washingtonians are thinking of the victims and their families, and are grateful for the service of school staff and first responders working to keep our students safe."

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