Maryland High School Under Lockdown, Shooter Killed in Gunfight

The school confirmed the shooting but said the incident had been “contained.”

Image used for representational purpose.

(Photo: AP)

A high school in Maryland, US, was on lockdown following a shooting on 20 March morning local time, the local school district said in a statement, but the incident has since been "contained."

The shooter, a 17-year-old student, was killed after exchanging fire with a campus security officer, the county sheriff told Reuters.

The shooting took place at Great Mills High School in St Mary's County.

A sheriff’s spokeswoman said two other people have been injured in the shooting.

The injured, a 16-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, were taken to hospitals. The girl was in intensive care with life-threatening critical injuries, the sheriff said, while the boy was in good condition.

The gunman was identified as Austin Wyatt Rollins, and the sheriff said there was "an indication" of a prior relationship between him and the female student, though he said that was still under investigation.

The shooting occurred amid a re-energised national debate over school shootings in the US following an attack on 14 February at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where a gunman killed 17 students and faculty.

The St Mary's County sheriff's office confirmed an incident at the school and urged parents in a Twitter post not to approach the school. Federal investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were heading to the school, the agency said.

Great Mills is a town about 110 km south of Washington.

(With Reuters and AP inputs)