Teen Suspect Dead Following Shooting At An Indiana Middle School

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Teen Suspect Dead After Exchanging Gunfire With Police

A teenage suspect shot and killed himself inside of an Indiana Middle School after exchanging gunfire with police on Thursday morning.

Indiana State Police Sgt. John Bowling said that authorities were able to prevent a possible mass shooting at Dennis Intermediate school all thanks to an early morning tip, which warned them of some potential violence at the Richmond school. “Local police had received information and they reacted on that very swiftly, and I think because of their swift reaction and also the swift reaction at the school that no student injuries happened,” Bowling commented.

Richmond Police immediately alerted the Richmond Community Schools of the potential threat and responded to the scene. The school district tweeted that all of its buildings were on lock down just after 8:30 a.m. and 20 minutes later confirmed that there had been an “active shooter situation.”

Authorities arrived at the grade school at about the same time as the suspect did. The two briefly exchanged gunfire near the building’s north door before the gunman proceeded to go inside the building, the Palladium-Item reported. After this, there was a second exchange of gunfire before the teen ended up shooting himself in a stairwell on the second floor.

“The police response was exactly as it should have been. Everybody here was prepared for a confrontation,” Richmond Police Department Chief Jim Barnum said, also adding that because of the lockdown, the student was unable to get inside any of the classrooms.

Officials did not immediately confirm the suspect’s age or whether he was student at the school prior to this incident. As of now, authorities said it’s not yet clear why he planned the attack.