A 16-year-old high school student is in custody after firing a shot into the air and being tackled by a teacher in Washington.
Emergency dispatchers got reports of an active shooter on the campus of Thurston High School around 7:40 a.m. Monday, but before authorities arrived, the shooting had been stopped by a brave teacher.
Students say they saw civics teacher Brady Olson and a school resource officer holding down a student believed to be the shooter as they fled for the exits. Later a school district official confirmed Olson was the teacher involved. No one was hurt in the incident.
Students report that the shot was fired in an upper hallway near the gym, according to ajc.com.
Olson says in a statement that he reacted “in a way that any other teacher would react.” Olson has worked at the high school in Lacey, Wash., for 10 years.
Since the shooting, dozens of students have taken to twitter to praise Olson’s heroic actions.
The suspect had just transfeered to the school a month earlier, reports King5. There were some indications last Friday, however, that there might be problems. A female classmate of the suspect says she received troubling text messages from him.
Update: The 16-year-old shooter actually fired two shots into the air before being tackled. The shooter, who was a new student, used his parents gun and is being held at Thurston County Juvenile Detention Center.
