ERIE, Pa. — One student was injured when multiple shots were fired Tuesday morning in a high school in northwestern Pennsylvania, and a person of interest in the shooting left the school after the gunfire, officials said.
Erie's Public Schools said the shooting happened inside the Erie High School building shortly after 9:20 a.m., prompting what the district called a “hard lockdown.”
The injured student was taken to a hospital and was said to be in stable condition. Authorities were searching for “a known person of interest who fled the building,” the district said. No further information was released about the person being sought.
Mike Nolan, deputy chief of the Erie police department, told reporters earlier that it was unclear how many shots were fired and declined comment on what type of firearm was involved and whether it was recovered.
Police said they had secured the high school and asked people to avoid the area, the city said in a Twitter post. Students were dismissed classroom by classroom about an hour after the shooting, officials said.
The school district said there would be no school for Erie High School students for the remainder of the week, with the annual spring break to be observed next week. Officials said counselors would be available this afternoon for students, staff and parents at the Erie Center for Arts and Technology, an adult education school.
“We are devastated and angered by this senseless tragedy, and we are all hoping for the full and speedy recovery of the student involved,” Superintendent Brian Polito said in a statement.
Officials said the school doesn't have metal detectors. The Erie Education Association, which represents school faculty and staff, said it had for years called for safety improvements but “each time, we’re told, ‘it will take time, we’re working on it.’”
“We will not stand by one day more until the safety of our students and staff is properly addressed,” the organization said in a statement, WICU-TV reported.
The school district vowed to release detailed information about the plan for a return to school in the coming days.
“The well-being of our students and staff is and always will be our priority, and we will take every measure possible to ensure their safety and security,” the district's statement said.
Mayor Joe Schember called the shooting “very saddening,” adding that “schools should be safe places where children learn and grow.”
Gov. Tom Wolf said he was “deeply disturbed” by the shooting.
“Students, faculty and staff deserve to feel safe in their school and community, yet gun violence continues to impact all corners of our commonwealth,” he said in a post on Twitter.
