- Multiple people were killed in a high-school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, on Friday, local and national media outlets reported.
- A suspected gunman was arrested and a second person was detained, authorities said.
- Witnesses said the gunman entered an art class Friday morning and opened fire with what appeared to be a shotgun.
At least eight people were killed after a gunman opened fire at a high school Friday morning in Santa Fe, Texas, local and national media outlets reported.
One suspect was "arrested and secured," the school's assistant principal told media Friday morning. A second person was detained, and a police officer was being treated for injuries, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.
The school district said in a statement that there were confirmed injuries but did not clarify the number of victims or their conditions. Law-enforcement sources told Houston television station KTRK that at least eight people were killed, though officials have not confirmed the number.
The district added that the situation was considered "active but has been contained" at the Santa Fe High School.
One witness said a gunman walked into an art class between 7:30 and 7:45 a.m. and opened fire with what appeared to be a shotgun, she told KTRK.
The witness said she saw one girl with blood on her leg as she fled the classroom.
"We smelled the gunpowder and you could hear the shots," he said. "We knew it was the real deal."
Another student, Tyler Hunter, said the school usually has several armed school-resource officers on campus.
Local and federal authorities rushed to the scene, including the Harris County Sheriff's Office, the Galveston County Sheriff's Office, the Santa Fe Police Department, and officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Television footage also showed several Life Flight air-ambulance helicopters touching down in the high school's parking lot as well as clusters of students huddled around school buses.
The chief nursing officer at the University of Texas Medical Branch told reporters that the facility had so far received three patients with gunshot wounds — two adults and one person under the age of 18.
One of the patients was in the operating room, he said, adding that he didn't have further information on their conditions.
One man prompted further controversy outside the school on Friday morning, where he arrived carrying an American flag and a holstered gun on his hip. He told reporters he was there to offer "support."
"Get to the school, make America great again," he said, referring to President Donald Trump's popular slogan.
Trump himself addressed the shooting on Twitter on Friday morning.
"School shooting in Texas. Early reports not looking good. God bless all!" he tweeted.
The shooting comes amid an ongoing national discourse over gun control and mass shootings. A similar high-school shooting occured in Parkland, Florida, on February 14, killing 17 people.
Santa Fe is a city just southeast of Houston that has a population of 13,200, according to the US Census Bureau.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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