Washington high school shooting: two dead and three in critical condition

The Associated Press moves a snap reporting the shooter, reportedly a student, is dead, backing up the Seattle Times report:

MARYSVILLE, Wash. (AP) — Police: Shooter dead after attack at high school north of Seattle.

A reporter with King5 Seattle tweets a picture from outside the school:

My colleague Alan Yuhas is watching a local news KOMO live feed, which interviewed a student named Alex who said she was in a cafeteria when the shooter entered. She said:

“I hear four gunshots, and it was behind me, so I looked behind me, so I see a gun pointed at this one kid. I know a whole bunch of kids but can’t really name names right now. Well as soon as everyone saw the gun or heard the shots they ran toward the wall. Some kids ran out the exit that I ran out of.”

“I saw them point [the gun] at the feet of the student and I ran first to the wall. I thought I’m not staying in here and so I ran out and called my mom.”

“We have practiced [for a situation like this] before but not this year yet. It would usually be a lockdown so we’ll turn off all the lights of classrooms and get away from the doors and windows, cover the windows, and get down along the wall.”

About the other students in the cafeteria, of which Alex estimates there were about 50 or 60.

“I think [the other students] could’ve [got out through the exits] but I was probably too scared. … There were a lot of kids on the side where the shooter was.”

Local authorities have announced a briefing to take place shortly. That should be watchable on one of two live streams here.

Local authorities have set up a staging area at Marysville City Hall for local media, parents and others, my colleague Jessica Glenza reports. Parents have been asked not to approach the school, the Seattle Times reports. Buses are transporting students to a Marysville church, according to local KIRO-TV.

The Seattle Times quotes two unnamed “law enforcement sources” as saying “a gunman believed to have opened fire at Marysville-Pilchuck High School Friday morning is dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

The paper says there are reports of multiple people being shot inside the school at around 10.45 am local time (three hours behind ET, eight hours behind BST).

The Marysville School District has released the following statement saying the school is on lockdown, according to a local Kiro TV report:

“The Marysville Pilchuck High School is currently in lock down due to an emergency situation. Police and emergency services have responded. The Marysville School District lock down procedures will remain in effect at Marysville Pilchuck until further notice from law enforcement. We will continue to forward communication in cooperation with law enforcement.”

There are at least two live streams of the events at Marysville-Pilchuck high school.

Watch local Komo TV live here.

Watch local Kiro TV live here.

Here’s a map locating Marysville:

A large police response is unfolding at Marysville-Pilchuck high school, just north of Seattle, after reports of shots fired at the school.

Local news helicopter views show students leaving the school en masse.

The Associated Press has moved this snap report:

Police have responded to a high school north of Seattle following reports of a shooting.

Local television stations reported Friday that two people were being airlifted to a hospital.

Live video showed students being evacuated from Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Marysville, near Everett.

Local KIRO-TV adds this detail:

Casey Blakley and his daughter were driving by the school when they say the huge police response.

“About every 30 seconds school I had to pull over because there were so many cops and paramedics going by,” he said. “The road was blocked off from about two blocks away

“There were a bunch of kids on the next block that apparently fled the school. They were all huddled together talking to cars that drove by.”