A student at Erie High School in Pennsylvania was injured during a shooting Monday morning, and a person of interest fled, according to officials.
Multiple shots were fired at the school shortly after 9:20 a.m., Erie’s Public Schools said in a statement. One student was injured but stable, the district said in the afternoon, adding that police were searching for a person of interest who fled the campus.
Counselors will be made available to students at a nearby arts center, and the school will be closed leading up to spring break, which begins next week, according to the district.
“We are devastated and angered by this senseless tragedy,” Erie’s Public Schools Superintendent Brian Polito said in a statement. “We are hoping for the full and speedy recovery for the student involved.
The district said in a statement more than two hours after announcing the shooting that the building was secure and there was no active threat.
A Pennsylvania State Police trooper at the scene of a shooting at Erie High School.WICU
In an earlier statement on Facebook, Erie’s Public Schools urged people to “STAY AWAY FROM THE AREA UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.”
The district added that it was working to coordinate parent pickups. Buses were also available to take kids home.
“Evacuation by orderly dismissal will begin as soon as the district is cleared to do so by the Erie Bureau of Police,” the school system later added.
Erie Mayor Joe Schember said the shooting was “very saddening.”
“Schools should be safe places where children learn and grow,” he wrote in a statement. “I know this is difficult for parents to hear. But remember: all students are now safe!”
The president of the Erie Education Association, Mary Theuerkauf, admonished the school district for not putting security measures in place.
“For years, we have demanded that the City of Erie School District Administration and School Directors confront the multitude of safety and security threats our staff have brought before them. Each time, we’re told, ‘it will take time, we’re working on it,'” she wrote in a statement, according to Erie News Now.
“No bureaucracy is worth a human life. We will not stand by one day more until the safety of our students and staff is properly addressed,” she said.