Two students sustained gunshot injuries in a shooting that took place near Jefferson High School on Tuesday, October 18, the Portland Public Schools officials confirmed. Both students suffered non-life threatening injuries and are currently stable.
According to the police, the shooting incident that resulted in the injuries to the two students took place at around 4 pm on Tuesday, October 18, near the gymnasium of Jefferson High School. The school had shut for the day when the shooting happened, Lieutenant Nathan Sheppard of the Portland Police Bureau revealed.
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Portland Police Bureau issued a statement on Tuesday evening that revealed that one of the victims suffered a gunshot injury to the leg and was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment. It also added that the injured victim ran inside the school building when the shooting happened.
“There’s also an unsubstantiated report that another student was hit in one of the extremities with not a very serious wound,” Lieutenant Nathan Sheppard quipped. “We’re still working on that lead to determine what caused their injury,” he added.
Portland police chief Chuck Lovell also spoke about the shooting incident, saying he was grateful that nobody died.
The police are probing the shooting incident, however, did not make arrests on Tuesday and did not have suspects in connection with the crime. As per Sheppard, the motive behind the incident was unclear but revealed that many people of similar age were nearby when the shooting took place.
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Apart from the shooting, a car crash also took place near the shooting crime scene and police said it was not immediately clear if the two incidents were related.
Gun violence is on the rise in the United States and Tuesday’s incident resulted in the school officials releasing Jefferson High students after 5 pm local time. The Portland Public Schools officials revealed that students who remained inside the building after the shooting were released to their respective parents from the Kerby Street exit later.