A 12-year-old boy pulled a gun from his band instrument case and shot two of his fellow students in New Mexico yesterday morning.
The students were in the gym at the time where they typically hang out during cold weather according to Governor Susana Martinez.
Martinez said a boy was critically injured and a girl was in serious condition following the shooting at Berrendo Middle School in Roswell.
The 12-year-old shooter was “quickly stopped by one staff member who walked right up to him and asked him to set down the firearm, which he did,” Martinez said at a press conference given yesterday afternoon.
“I believed we have the only individual in custody who’s responsible for this,” State Police Chief Pete N. Kassetas said at an afternoon press conference. “By time he got there, the weapon, we believe a shotgun, was laid on the ground.”
CNN reports that Governor Martinez praised teacher John Masterson’s quick actions.
She said: ‘Masterson … was a hero who stood there and allowed a gun to be pointed right at him.’
Mr Masterson has been a teacher for ten years and also coaches soccer at the school.
Roswell police announced soon after the shooting that the suspect had been arrested at the campus and was in custody.
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