4:30 p.m. update from the Associated Press: An Arizona man says his brother, an Indiana teacher, has undergone surgery after being shot three times when he intervened in a school shooting at his middle school.
Indianapolis news media identified Jason Seaman as the Noblesville West Middle School teacher who a student says tackled the shooter after he fired four to six shots inside a science classroom Friday morning.
Jeremy Seaman told the Indianapolis Star that his brother was conscious after the shooting and talked with his wife, telling her he was OK.
Jeremy Seaman says his brother was a defensive end for Southern Illinois University’s football team and has never been a person to run away.
Seventh-grader Ethan Stonebraker says Seaman ran at the shooter “swatted a gun out of his hand and tackled him to the ground.”
4:15 p.m. update from newsgathering partner WISH TV:
Two people were in critical condition and a shooter was in custody after a shooting Friday morning in Noblesville West Middle School.
Noblesville Police Department said the first call came in at 9:06 a.m. Two people were shot, a 13-year-old girl and a teacher. They were in critical condition.
Family members confirmed that the teacher is Jason Seaman. The student has not yet been identified.
Another student was being treated at Riverview Health in Noblesville with a fractured ankle.
“There is a male student at Noblesville West Middle School who has been detained,” said Kevin Jowitt, Noblesville police chief. “We believe he is the involved suspect. We have no reason to believe that there is any kind of a threat connected to this anywhere else.”
Authorities held a press conference at 2 p.m. Friday to provide an update on the shooting.
While they did not confirm the names of the victims or the suspected shooter, they provided details on what led up to the shooting.
Noblesville Chief of Police, Kevin Jowitt, said that a male student asked to be excused from a classroom, left and returned with two handguns. Jowitt said that classroom is where the shooting occurred and that the incident was resolved quickly.
“We don’t know what happened in the classroom so I can’t make any comments but we do know what happened in that classroom resolved very quickly,” Jowitt said.
“You never think they’re going to happen in your hometown,” is how Lt. Bruce Barnes, a public information officer with Noblesville Police Department, began his comments at the press conference.
He that a school resource officer assigned to the campus was inside the building and responded. He said the shooter “was apprehended in the classroom or thereabouts” and that authorities are still working to learn what that process looked like. He also said that officials would be reviewing video from the school.
The teacher was shot while taking down the shooter and was taken to IU Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. The girl was taken to Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health in Indianapolis.
When asked whether the suspect had been injured, Barnes said they had no reason to believe he was injured.
Barnes also confirmed the school does not have metal detectors “as a regular basis of walking into the school.”
Barnes said a number of search warrants had been issued, while another official said the investigation would have to be completed before they could determine if and what charges would be filed.
“We all train for this. When it comes down to it, we come to the realization of ‘What do we do?'” Barnes said, speaking of the ongoing investigation.
Noblesville Schools Superintendent Beth Niedermeyer said she had just visited with the families of the victims and asked that while cards and kind wishes were welcome, people stay away from the hospital to allow the family to have some peace.
Niedermeyer called the efforts of the school staff heroic and said, “They did exactly what they were trained to do. Please keep the thoughts and prayers coming. We’re so grateful for the support we’ve had.” Arrangements for students returning to school in the coming days were still in process, Barnes and Niedermeyer said.
Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter said he had briefed Gov. Eric Holcomb as Holcomb returned from Europe. When asked about more details into what authorities called the staff’s heroism, Carter said, “When we can tell that story, you’ll be proud too.”
Barnes said investigators would remain inside the school for several hours and that because of the quick response, “We think lives were saved today.”
“Staff were prepared; they knew what they were doing, and I couldn’t be more proud. It’s very sad that we have to go through this in our beautiful city,” Noblesville Mayor John Ditslear said.
4 p.m. update from the Associated Press: A police spokesman say several search warrants have been obtained as investigators work to determine how a suburban Indianapolis middle school student obtained the handguns he brought to a classroom where he shot a teacher and another student.
Noblesville police Lt. Bruce Barnes declined to say whether the male student was targeting anyone during Friday morning’s shooting at Noblesville West Middle School. Barnes said the suspected shooter wasn’t injured and wouldn’t comment on whether the student had been in trouble before.
The police chief says the student asked to be excused from class, then returned with two handguns and opened fire. Jowitt says the student was quickly taken into custody. He didn’t confirm accounts that the teacher tackled the shooter after he fired four to six shots.
3 p.m. update from newsgathering partner WISH TV: Two people were in critical condition and a shooter was in custody after a shooting Friday morning in Noblesville West Middle School.
Noblesville Police Department said the first call came in at 9:06 a.m. Two people were shot, a 13-year-old girl and a teacher. They were in critical condition.
Family members confirmed that the teacher is Jason Seaman. The student has not yet been identified.
Another student was being treated at Riverview Health in Noblesville with a fractured ankle.
“There is a male student at Noblesville West Middle School who has been detained,” said Kevin Jowitt, Noblesville police chief. “We believe he is the involved suspect. We have no reason to believe that there is any kind of a threat connected to this anywhere else.”
2:40 p.m. update from the Associated Press
NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (AP) — A male student opened fire at a suburban Indianapolis middle school Friday morning, wounding another student and a teacher before being taken into custody, authorities said.
Seventh-grader Ethan Stonebraker said the science teacher likely prevented even more injuries by confronting the shooter, who he said pulled out a gun and opened fire after walking in late while the class was taking a test.
“Our science teacher immediately ran at him, swatted a gun out of his hand and tackled him to the ground,” Stonebraker said. “If it weren’t for him, more of us would have been injured for sure.”
The attack at Noblesville West Middle School happened around 9 a.m., police Chief Kevin Jowitt said at a news conference. He said investigators believe the suspect acted alone, but didn’t detail what happened or the severity of the injuries to the victims, who were taken to hospitals in Indianapolis. The identities of those involved weren’t immediately released.
Indiana University Health spokeswoman Danielle Sirilla said the teacher was taken to IU Health Methodist Hospital and the wounded student was taken to Riley Hospital for Children. She didn’t know the seriousness of their injuries.
The attack comes a week after an attack at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, that killed eight students and two teachers, and months after the school attack that killed 17 people in Parkland, Florida. The Florida attack inspired students from that school and others throughout the country to call for more restrictions on access to guns.
After the Indiana attack, students were bused to the Noblesville High School gym, where hundreds of parents and other family members arrived to retrieve them.
2 p.m. update from the Associated Press:
A student at an Indiana middle school says he saw his science teacher tackle a fellow student who fired shots inside the classroom.
Seventh-grader Ethan Stonebraker says the class was taking a test at Noblesville West Middle School when the student walked in late, pulled out a gun and started firing.
He says the teacher “immediately ran at him, swatted a gun out of his hand and tackled him to the ground.” Stonebraker adds, “if it weren’t for him, more of us would have been injured for sure.”
The teacher and a student were injured in the shooting.
1:30 p.m. update from the Associated Press:
A male student was in custody Friday morning after a student and teacher were injured in a shooting at Noblesville West Middle School in Indiana.
The teen was being treated at Riley Hospital for children while the teacher was transported to Indiana University Methodist Hospital, Noblesville Police Chief Kevin Jowitt said during a press briefing. Both are currently in critical condition.
Authorities do not believe there are any more suspects, but confirmed there have been additional threats made at other area schools, including one at Noblesville High School.
Police were monitoring the situation and there is no evidence to suggest the threat is credible, Jowitt said. If the threat turns out to be false or a prank, the person behind it will be “prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Police and medical crews responded around 9 a.m. following reports of an active shooter situation at the school, located about 25 miles north of Indianapolis.
Aerial footage shows a shocking and chaotic scene, with students evacuating the building with their hands raised and panicked parents desperately searching for their children.
Lockdowns placed on both the middle and high schools have since been lifted and parents have been cleared to pick up their children.
Vice President Mike Pence offered his support in a tweet complete with a message that’s become commonplace in the wake of school shootings.
“Karen and I are praying for the victims of the terrible shooting in Indiana,” he wrote. “To everyone in the Noblesville community, you are (in) our hearts and in our prayers. Thanks for the swift response by Hoosier law enforcement and first responders.”
Noon update from the Associated Press: Authorities say the suspect in a shooting at a suburban Indianapolis middle school shooting is a male student and the victims are a teacher and another student.
Noblesville police Chief Kevin Jowitt says the student suspected in Friday morning’s shooting at Noblesville West Middle School is in custody and is believed to have acted alone.
The teacher and student who were wounded in the attack were taken to hospitals in Indianapolis. The severity of their injuries is unknown.
11:48 a.m. update: From newsgathering partner WISH-TV: Two people are in critical condition and a shooter is in custody after a shooting inside of Noblesville West Middle School.
The Noblesville Police Department said the call first came in at 9:06 a.m. Two people were shot, a 13-year-old girl and a teacher. They are in critical condition.
A male student was detained and taken into custody.
The teacher that was shot while taking down the shooter was taken to IU Health Methodist hospital. The teen was taken to Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health. Families have been notified.
Additionally, another student is being treated at Riverview Health with a fractured ankle.
“There a male student at Noblesville West Middle School who has been detained,” said Kevin Jowitt, Noblesville Chief of Police. “We believe he is the involved suspect. We have no reason to believe that there is any kind of a threat connected to this anywhere else.”
After the shooting, a SWAT team swept the building.
11 a.m. update: Police are now reporting a threat at Noblesville High School, where the middle school students were taken following the shooting incident. That school has now been locked down.
From the Associated Press: Scores of parents have arrived at a suburban Indianapolis high school to pick up their children after a shooting at a nearby middle school in which a child and an adult were injured.
Erica Higgins was at Noblesville High School to pick up her son after Friday morning’s shooting at Noblesville West Middle School, which she learned about at home when a relative called her.
Higgins told WTHR-TV that her son was shaken up but that he knew little of what happened.
She says: “I got a ‘Mom, I’m scared’ text message and other than that, it was ‘come get me at the high school,'”
An Indiana University Health spokeswoman Danielle Sirilla says the adult victim was taken to IU Health Methodist Hospital and the child was taken to Riley Hospital for Children. She didn’t know the seriousness of their injuries.
Authorities say the suspect is believed to have acted alone and was taken into custody.
Noblesville, which is about 20 miles northeast of Indianapolis, is home to about 50,000 people. The middle school has about 1,300 students from grades 6-8.
The attack comes a week after an attack at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, that killed eight students and two teachers.
Initial story: NOBLESVILLE –Two people are in critical condition and a shooter is in custody after a shooting inside of Noblesville West Middle School.
The Republic’s newsgathering partner WISH TV has been told that the situation is contained. Police are on scene and a SWAT team is sweeping the building. The school is on lockdown. Officials are requesting more medical help on the scene.
One victim is a 13-year-old girl. One victim is an adult. Both victims are heading to Methodist Hospital. Families have been notified.
The son of a WISH-TV producer has said that a shooter is in custody. That student heard several shots fired but did not know if they were fired inside or outside of the building.
A teacher inside of the school said students are being moved to the high school. Some students are being kept in closets and being told that busses will take them to the high school.
A public information officer with Indiana State Police said they are “sending everyone.”
The school sent a message to parents stating:
Shots have been reported at Noblesville West Middle School. Reports of one injury. Police are onsite and school is in lockdown. Standby for more info.
For more information on this story, check back here or pick up a Saturday Republic.
