A suspected shooter and a second person were arrested after a student was killed at Houston-area school Tuesday, police in Bellaire said.
The shooter ran from Bellaire High School, a school of around 3,400, after the shooting at about 4 p.m., police said. Bellaire is in the Houston metropolitan area.
"We're all shocked and devastated by this afternoon’s senseless tragedy at Bellaire High School," Mayor Andrew S. Friedberg said in a statement.
The suspect and a second person were arrested shortly after 7:30 p.m., police said.
The identities of the slain student and the suspect, and what connection the second person may have had, have not been disclosed.
The shooting happened just after seventh period, students at the high school told NBC affiliate KPRC of Houston. Officials said the accused gunman is also a student at Bellaire High School, according to the station.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg tweeted Tuesday night that her office was working with police to charge the suspected shooter.
The mayor said in the statement that school shootings “take place with such alarming frequency, it’s easy to become desensitized and lulled into complacency.”
"We see it on TV, and while we know it can happen anywhere, it’s not supposed to happen here. Yet today it has," Friedberg said. "As a parent, I'm positively stricken having to explain to my young children the events of today, and the harsh realities of the world in which they live. I’m shaken to my very core, seeing their innocence abruptly taken from them."
The Houston Independent School District said that Wednesday's classes had been canceled.
"Our hearts go out to that student’s family, his friends, his classmates, and the staff here at Bellaire High School." Superintendent Grenita Lathan said at a news conference. "It is a tragic loss to our school community and our city."
Bellaire is a city of around 17,000 in the southwestern section of Houston.
