Authorities have identified the individual who opened fire and injured two students and a custodian at an Idaho middle school Thursday as a sixth grade girl.
The incident unfolded around 9:08 a.m., when the suspect, identified as a sixth grade girl, pulled a handgun out of her backpack. The student began firing multiple rounds both inside and outside the building, Jefferson County Sheriff Steve Anderson said during a Thursday press conference obtained by Local News 8.
“This is a very difficult and trying time for our community,” Anderson said, noting two students and a school employee were shot and sustained non-life threatening injuries.
“During the shooting, a teacher disarmed the student and detained her until law enforcement took her into custody,” Anderson said. (RELATED: Police: One Dead, Officer Injured At Knoxville, Tennessee, High School)
The motive for the shooting remains unclear and is under investigation.
BREAKING: A shooting at an Idaho middle school has wounded three people – two students and an educator – and a suspect is in custody. #idleg https://t.co/PRoiNRJpqd
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) May 6, 2021
“Me and my classmate were just in class with our teacher – we were doing work – and then all of a sudden, here was a loud noise and then there were two more loud noises,” Yandel Rodriguez, 12, said, according to the Associated Press. “Then there was screaming. Our teacher went to check it out, and he found blood.”
“Today we had the worst nightmare a school district could encounter,” Jefferson School District Superintendent Chad Martin said in a statement, according to NBC News. “We had a school shooting here at Rigby Middle School.”
All district schools will be closed Friday but counselors will be available for students as needed, the school said in a statement.
Republican Idaho Gov. Brad Little said he was keeping the community in his prayers.