US state of Michigan
15-year-old shoots three classmates at high school – several injured
Students mourn the three victims of the shooting at a service in Oxford, Michigan.
© Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images / AFP
A gunman opened fire at a Michigan high school, killing at least three students. Six other people, including a teacher, were injured.
At a school in the US state of Michigan, a 15-year-old shot dead three classmates and injured eight other people. The suspect was arrested without resistance after the shots were fired, according to the police in Oakland County, north of the city of Detroit, on Tuesday. A handgun was secured. A teacher is among the injured. The exact background was initially unclear.
The crime happened at the high school in the small town of Oxford, which is about 40 miles north of Detroit. According to police reports, the first emergency call came in at 12:51 p.m. local time. The attacker fired between 15 and 20 shots over a period of around five minutes. He was arrested by arriving officers five minutes after the first call to 911.
Police speak of “very tragic situation”
“There was no resistance during the arrest,” the police said. “The suspect has asked for a lawyer and has not given any explanation as to a motive.” Police representative Michael McCabe spoke of a “very tragic situation”. “We have many concerned parents.”
The victims are a 16-year-old student and two classmates aged 14 and 17. According to police representative Michael McCabe, it is unclear whether the perpetrator deliberately killed her or whether he shot indiscriminately.
Biden offers condolences to families
“It’s every parent’s worst nightmare,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said. President Joe Biden also expressed his shock at the crime and expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.
Attacks with guns or even massacres with many deaths occur again and again at schools in the USA. Tuesday’s attack at Oxford High School was the deadliest gun incident at a US school this year, according to the organization Everytown For Gun Safety.
Gun law is a highly controversial topic in the United States. Attempts to tighten gun laws repeatedly fail due to resistance from conservative Republicans and the influential gun lobby.