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Colorado school shooting injures 2; gunman reported dead

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Greg Campbell Contributor
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A student opened fire at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colo., Friday, wounding two people before taking his own life.

The victims, who are also students, were taken to area hospitals. One is in critical condition after suffering a gunshot wound. The other is reported to have minor gunshot injuries and is expected to be released from the hospital Friday evening.

According to Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson, a student with a shotgun entered the school at 12:33 p.m. looking for a specific teacher, who was notified and left the building.

Robinson praised the teacher’s decision to leave the school in an effort to have the shooter follow him, calling it “the most important tactical decision that could be made.”

Authorities did not name the teacher or the shooter, citing the ongoing investigation.

When gunshots rang out, the school went into “active-shooter lockdown” and students hid in classrooms before being evacuated. Robinson said the protocol for responding officers during such a lockdown is to “go to the threat and try to eliminate the threat.” Multiple news outlets reported an overwhelming police response within minutes of a 9-1-1 call that was made shortly before 12:40 p.m., including a bomb squad and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Within an hour of the shooting, local police commanders said there was no longer an imminent threat at the school.

“We are slowly and methodically clearing the school to make sure the students are safe,” Sheriff Grayson Robinson told the media at during an earlier briefing. “No weapons were found other than the one that was used in the shooting.”

Gov. John Hickenlooper praised the police response in the face of “unspeakable horror in a place of learning.”

The shooting comes just a day before the one-year anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in which 26 people, including 20 first-graders, were killed.

This post has been updated to reflect the most current information available.

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Greg Campbell