Teen Opens Fire In Louisiana School

Reuters reports, "a 14-year-old student opened fire on faculty and students Friday morning at the alternative school he attended [in Monroe, Louisiana], authorities said. The large-calibre handgun misfired after four shots and no one was injured, authorities said. The boy was disarmed and arrested after two police officers rushed him, said Kelly McGee, spokeswoman for the Monroe School District."

14 Year Old Teen Opens Fire In Louisiana School - No One Hurt
4-20-1

MONROE, Louisiana (Reuters) - On the second anniversary of the nation's worst school shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, a 14-year-old student opened fire on faculty and students Friday morning at the alternative school he attended, authorities said.

The large-calibre handgun misfired after four shots and no one was injured, authorities said.

The boy was disarmed and arrested after two police officers rushed him, said Kelly McGee, spokeswoman for the Monroe School District.

Each student at the Sherrouse Alternative School, set up for children who have been removed from regular classroom because of behaviour problems, is checked in each morning by faculty members and Principal Charles Rohner and subjected to metal detector, McGee said.

"Charles heard a click and looked up and six feet away was a gun pointed at him," she said. "He grabbed kids and the four teachers out there and herded them through the auditorium and away from the boy. He and a teacher held the door closed as the boy fired into it."

"They didn't hear anything else so they started out as the boy came into the auditorium through another door and fired again," McGee said. "Then two police officers arrived and he hid behind some boxes. They could hear the gun clicking but it didn't fire. One of them said, 'I don't want to have to kill this kid' and they rushed him. He didn't fight it."

"We were lucky. This could have been so very serious," she said.

At Columbine, 18-year-old Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, 17, stormed their school, killing 13 people and injuring 20 others before committing suicide.

In Monroe, a passing school bus driver spotted the trouble at 7:20 a.m. CDT (8:20 a.m. EDT)(1220 GMT) and police arrived within two minutes, Chief Joe Stewart said. The two officers who arrested the boy completed specialised training in rapid deployment and crisis management on Thursday, he said. "It's kind of ironic, but everybody -- our people and the school people -- did exactly what they were supposed to do."

Stewart said federal officials will try to trace the background on the .380 magnum gun the boy was carrying to deter mine where he got it. The youth was being interviewed by authorities to determine his motive and intended targets, he said.

Psychologists have been called to the school to help students and faculty, McGee said.

She said the boy was sent to the school in October 2000 after being involved with marijuana, was discharged in March and readmitted this week. The reason he was sent back was not immediately known.