Two dead after Seattle-area student opens fire

The assailant, named as 14-year-old Jaylen Fryberg, was said to have entered the school canteen at Marysville-Pilchuck High School on Friday and opened fire, fatally wounding one person and injuring several others.

One student, believed to be a girl, was reported to have died as a result of injuries sustained. Four other "young people" - two boys and two girls - were said to have serious wounds to the head.

The Seattle Times, citing law-enforcement officials, reported the teenage shooter as having "died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound."

"At this point, we are confirming that there are two deceased," Marysville Police Commander Robb Lamoureux told reporters.

Television footage showed police arriving at the school as students, some with hands on heads, emerged from the sprawling campus.

Witnesses described the gunman as well-liked and said it appeared he had targeted his own friends rather than firing randomly. Fryberg's behavior was said to have been "methodical."

Student Alan Perez told the KING-TV news channel he had been eating his lunch nearby when he heard the shots. "He had a little gun in his hand. I saw the flash from the muzzle," Perez told the channel.

Police have so far offered no information about what may have motivated the shooting, although social network messages were said to have indicated he was unhappy about an incident.

The school, some 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Seattle, has some 2,500 students. The region's last school shooting happened on June 5 at Seattle Pacific University, where a gunman killed one student and wounded two others.

rc/jm (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)