At 11:45 this morning, a gunman entered a charter school in Houston and opened fire, critically injuring a staff member before being taken into police custody “without incident,” NBC News reports.
Several police agencies, including Houston Police and Harris County Sheriff’s Police, responded to a call of an active shooter at YES Prep Southwest Secondary, a charter school serving students in sixth through 12th grades.
In an interview with KPRC-TV in Houston, several students identified the injured man as the school’s principal, although police had not confirmed this information as of the time of this report.
In addition, the suspect was identified by police simply as a 25-year-old man, but staff members at the school identified him as a former student at the school.
After a search of the building, police determined that there were no additional injuries and that the suspect didn’t have an accomplice.
Students emerged from the building at about 1 PM, hands in the air to show police that they were not carrying a weapon.
“You don’t want anything like this to happen,” Houston Chief of Police Troy Finner was quoted as saying, “but I want to commend those students. Every student I’ve seen coming out, they were calm. The administrators, the teachers, outstanding job. I want to commend them … they train for it.”
