(OXFORD, Mich.) — Three students were killed in a shooting at Oxford High School in Oxford, Michigan, on Tuesday, authorities said.
They were a 16-year-old male student and two female students, ages 14 and 17, authorities said.
Eight others were shot and injured, including a teacher, authorities said. They were transported to three different local hospitals. Two were in surgery and six in stable condition with varied gunshot wounds, Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe said during a briefing Tuesday evening.
All parents of the victims have been notified, he said.
The suspected shooter, a 15-year-old male student, was taken into custody within five minutes, authorities said. A semiautomatic handgun has been confiscated, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said.
The student lives in the Village of Oxford and attended school Tuesday, authorities said.
Authorities said they believe he acted alone. The teen has not mentioned a motive, authorities said.
He is being held at the Oakland County Children’s Village and is lodged as a juvenile, McCabe said. The county prosecutor could choose to charge him as an adult, he said.
The suspected shooter’s parents have not granted him permission to talk to authorities and have hired a lawyer, the undersheriff said. Authorities are executing a search warrant at his house, he said.
Over 100 calls poured into 911 as the shooting unfolded, authorities said.
The shooting occurred primarily in one area of the school and there is a “fairly large crime scene,” McCabe said.
Oxford is about 40 miles north of Detroit.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer attended an evening briefing on the shooting, saying she wanted to be there “because I think this is an important moment for us to support one another, to support this community. And I want to thank our first responders.”
She called the incident a “uniquely American problem that we need to address,” and got visibly emotional discussing the tragedy.
“I think this is every parent’s worst nightmare,” she said, crying.
President Joe Biden said Tuesday afternoon, “My heart goes out to the families during the unimaginable grief of losing a loved one.”
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