Sixth-grader open fire in US School, injuring three

Officials in Rigby, Idaho, said a female middle school student opened fire on classmates on Thursday.

According to police, two students and one adult were wounded. Officials said the adult was treated and released from Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, while the two students, one girl and one boy, sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

Both will spend the night in the hospital and will need surgery, according to hospital officials at a press conference.

The sixth-grader took a handgun from her backpack and started shooting just after 9 a.m., as per the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. Two people were shot in a school hallway before she moved outside and another person was shot, the sheriff's office said. A teacher took the girl's weapon and held her until the police arrived.

Once its investigation is complete, Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Taylor told reporters his office will be filing "appropriate" charges, possibly including three counts of attempted murder.

A motive for the shooting is still under investigation, authorities said. The police said he did not know where the student obtained the handgun. "This is the worst nightmare a school district could ever face," Superintendent Chad Martin said at the press conference. "We prepare for it, but we're never truly ready for it. We prepare for it, but we're never truly ready for it."

Martin said that although the school district would be closed on Friday, counsellors will be available at the local high school to provide help.

Lucy Long, a sixth-grader at the school, told Idaho Falls ABC affiliate KIFI that she heard banging on her classroom door, then two gunshots, screaming, running down the corridor, and the third gunshot from a distance. Lucy told the station, "I was really afraid. I was on the verge of tears, but I was trying to console my other crying friends."

"We were so afraid that someone might come in after they were knocking on our door like they were trying to get in and hurt us," she said.

Following the incident, which was captured on the middle school's surveillance system, students were transferred to a neighbouring high school, according to the police. The student's identity has not been revealed. However, the police said that she lives in Idaho Falls and went to Rigby Middle School.

Idaho Governor Brad Little said he was monitoring the situation. Little wrote on Twitter, "I am praying for the lives and wellbeing of those involved in today's horrific events. We appreciate the cooperation of our law enforcement officers and school officials in reacting to the incident."