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Two Students Wounded, 12-Year-Old Captured After School Shooting

This post was updated at 11 p.m. ET.

A 12-year-old student opened fire Tuesday at a middle school in Roswell, N.M., wounding two fellow students. The shooter, who was armed with a shotgun, was arrested.

The Associated Press reports:

"A boy was critically injured and a girl was in satisfactory condition following the shooting at Berrendo Middle School in Roswell.

"Gov. Susana Martinez said the students were in the gym, where they typically hang out before classes start during cold and inclement weather. The 12-year-old opened fire with the shotgun there at about 8 a.m.

"However, he 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 news conference. ...

"The suspected shooter, whom police have not named, was transferred to an Albuquerque psychiatric hospital following a hearing Tuesday, according to attorney Robert Gorence, who is representing his family. Gorence said the family will release a statement Wednesday."

KRQE.com reports:

"[An] 11-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl were airlifted to University Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas. A staff member was also injured with minor injuries and did not seek medical attention.

Hospital officials say the boy is in critical condition and the girl is in serious condition. Both were originally treated at the hospital in Roswell and then transferred to Lubbock where the boy was quickly taken into surgery. Both of them also went into surgery Tuesday.

One student says he saw one of the victims had been shot in the face."

The Associated Press quotes UMC spokesman Eric Finley as saying nurses treating the boy were told by him that he was the intended target.

The shooting at Berrendo Middle School happened as the school day was just beginning.

The AP quotes eighth grader Odiee Carranza as saying she was walking to the school gym when the shooter bumped her.

"She told him to be careful, and he apologized and continued on. He ran to the gym, where he pulled a gun out of a band instrument case and fired at the students."

"'Then he shot up in the sky, then dropped the gun, and then some teacher grabbed the kid that had the gun,' Carranza said."

Roswell Police report that "the shooter has been apprehended."

"Authorities say no motive has been established in the incident, and that the student suspect stopped shooting when a staff member intervened and asked him to put down the firearm," reports Tristan Ahtone of NPR member station KUNM in Albuquerque.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.
Scott Neuman is a reporter and editor, working mainly on breaking news for NPR's digital and radio platforms.