GREAT MILLS, MD (RNN) - A 16-year-old girl is in critical condition and a 14-year-old boy is in stable condition, following the most recent school shooting in the U.S.
The suspected shooter, identified as 17-year-old Austin Wyatt Rollins, was killed.
According to Sheriff Tim Cameron, Rollins opened fire with a handgun before classes began at Great Mills High School in St. Mary's County, MD, on Tuesday. Cameron said there may have been a relationship between the suspect and the female student, but they are investigating Rollins for more information on motive.
The male student was shot after the female student, and both are being treated at area hospitals.
A school resource officer shot the shooter, but it's not clear if the officer killed the shooter or if the shooter killed himself, according to Cameron. The incident began at about 7:45 a.m.
"This is what you hope never happens, but this is what you prepare for," Cameron said.
Deputy Blaine Gaskill, the SRO, had SWAT training and been assigned to Great Mills since the beginning of the school year, Baltimore Sun reported. Students were evacuated and parents are meeting them at a different location.
"If you don't think this can happen at your school you are sadly mistaken," says Dr. James Smith of the St. Mary's school system.
The sheriff's office on the scene is working with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, as well as FBI agents from the Baltimore office.
The school was placed on lockdown, as well as nearby schools. It comes a few weeks after a threat against the school circulated on SnapChat and other social media platforms.
Great Mills is located about 66 miles south of Washington, DC and about 1,500 students attend the high school.
Great Mills students joined others across the country to protest gun violence at schools during the National School Walkout on Wednesday. A shooter in Parkland, FL, killed 17 people Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
The survivors are organizing a national demonstration for gun control laws on March 24 called March for Our Lives.
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