The girl pulled a handgun from her backpack and fired multiple rounds inside and outside Rigby Middle School in the city of Rigby, Jefferson County Sheriff Steve Anderson said.
A sixth-grade girl opened fire at her Idaho middle school Thursday and shot two students and a custodian before a teacher was finally able to disarm her, according to authorities.
Police were called to the Rigby Middle School in the small city of Rigby around 9:15 a.m. after the sound of gunshots rang across campus. The shooter was described as a sixth-grade student at the school who lives in Idaho Falls.
The girl pulled a handgun from her backpack and fired multiple rounds inside and outside of the school, Jefferson County Sheriff Steve Anderson told reporters.
An eighth-grade math teacher identified as Krista Gneiting is reportedly the adult that stopped the shooting, the Post Register reported.
"My heart is touched by all the incredible outpouring of love I've received," Gneiting wrote in a Facebook post. "All of the staff at Rigby did their part and kept our wonderful children safe! Thank you! I love you all and we will get through this together."
There are about 1,500 students in the middle school, CBS News reported citing National Center for Education Statistics.
The three victims are expected to survive, although one student might have to undergo surgery, Dr. Michael Lemon, a trauma medical director told reporters, according to CBS News. The adult that was shot was treated and released for a bullet that went "cleanly" through the limb.
“Me and my classmate were just in class with our teacher — we were doing work — and then all of a sudden, here was a loud noise and then there were two more loud noises. Then there was screaming,” 12-year-old Yandel Rodriguez told the AP. “Our teacher went to check it out, and he found blood.”
A GoFundMe account was created to help support the medical expenses for one of the victims, Jim Wilson, who works as a custodian at the school.
The Rigby school district experienced a school incident in 1989 when a 14-year-old student at the middle school threatened a teacher with a handgun and held another student hostage, the Register reported. No shots were fired.