A 14-year-old boy was charged with attempted murder and other felony counts after two students were shot during lunch Monday at Madison Junior/Senior High School in western Ohio, authorities said.
Both victims, boys ages 14 and 15, were listed as stable Monday night with gunshot wounds, investigators and hospital officials said. Two other students, a 14 year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, suffered minor injuries in the panic that followed the shooting, they said.
The suspected shooter was in the Butler County Juvenile Detention Center on Monday, charged as an adult with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of felonious assault, inducing panic and making terroristic threats, all of them felonies. NBC News is naming none of the students because of their ages.
The suspect fled but was arrested a short time later after K-9 dogs tracked him down by his scent, Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said.
"We have the suspect in custody, and we did locate the weapon used," but investigators still haven't determined a motive, said Jones, who called the shooting "a tragic and horrific event that you hope never happens."
The school is part of the Madison Township, Ohio, school district but is located in Middletown, Ohio.
Eighth-grader Shelby Kinnin told NBC station WLWT of Cincinnati that he was finishing up lunch when "I heard, like, a couple of a loud bangs."
"And then I looked over, and one of the kids that got shot, like, grabbed his leg. He fell down, and the shooter, like, ran out. There were kids screaming and, like, crying, and everybody ran out of the building," Shelby said.
Peter Ekeh, director of the trauma unit at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, told the station that all of the injured students are expected to make full recoveries. None needed surgery, and all are expected to be released in a few days, he said.
The school will remain closed Tuesday, and counselors will be available for students and staff, officials said.
Clarification: Madison Junior/Senior High School is located in Middletown, Ohio but is part of the Madison Township, Ohio, school system.
