Indiana School Shooting: Teen Planning Violence At Middle School Intercepted By Police, Takes Own Life

Police in Indiana believe they thwarted a school shooting after intercepting a teenage suspect reportedly en route to a middle school to commit violence. The suspect then took his own life.

As CNN reported, the teen arrived at Dennis Intermediate School in Richmond but police were able to intercept him after receiving a tip that he planned the school shooting. The suspect exchanged gunfire with police before killing himself, Indiana State Police Sgt. John Bowling told reporters. Bowling said that someone had known the teen was planning the shooting and tipped off police.

It was not known why the teen planned the shooting, or what connected he had to the school. The report also noted that it was unclear if any of the shots were fired at students either outside or inside the middle school. Officials instituted a district-wide lockdown in response to the notice that the teen planned to attack the school. Students at Dennis Intermediate School were being transported to Richmond High School, where parents were instructed to come to pick them up.

Richmond is located close to 60 miles east of Indianapolis, near the state’s border with Ohio. Dennis Intermediate School serves students in fifth grade through eights grade and is one of three in the Richmond Community School district. There are a total of 4,879 students in the school.

This is the scene outside of Dennis Middle School in Richmond, Indiana right now after a reported shooting. All Richmond schools are now on lock down. pic.twitter.com/v5NCnwNpNt

— Matt McCutcheon (he/him) (@matt_mccutcheon) December 13, 2018

The district later announced on Twitter that all other students were safe, and that only the suspect was injured. Police have not released the name of the suspect, and the investigation into the shooting is ongoing.

There were some conflicting reports about where the shootout took place in the hours after the incident first happened. Initial reports suggested that police intercepted the suspect before he reached the school or before entering the school, but the Dayton Daily News reported that the “teenager is reported dead after committing suicide with a gun inside Dennis Intermediate School in Richmond.”

The district had also received advance notice that the teen was threatening violence in the school and the lockdown was put in place before he arrived. Yet the suspect was still able to gain entry into the school, the Dayton Daily News reported. It was not clear how he was able to enter. The suspect arrived at the same time as law enforcement officials, and they were able to corner the suspect in a stairwell. It was there that the teen took his life, reportedly turning his gun on himself.