Gunman kills self at Colorado high school; second student critically wounded

Police, sheriff’s deputies and agents of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives barreled into a home about 4 miles from the school. No one appeared to be home, a neighbor said.
“An ATF agent said we should stay in the house,” she told NBC station KUSA of Denver. “I didn’t ask any questions.”

Robinson said late Friday that authorities were investigating four locations: the school, Pierson’s car, his mother’s home and his father’s home. His parents divorced in 2011.
‘I was just freaking out’
A janitor first spotted the gunman and alerted authorities. The man, who said he wanted to be identified only as Fabian, said the gunman was running side to side, kind of military style.”
“I looked to see if there was a gun,” Fabian told KUSA. “It was a shotgun.”

An Arapahoe High School student tells NBC station KUSA she texted her parents a message she never wanted to have to send them.
“When he went into the library, he said, ‘Where is Murphy?'” Fabian said.
Robinson confirmed that the gunman was armed with a shotgun.

Students described a scene of terror when the shooting started.

“I heard three shots, and then the school went into lockdown,” Camden Flinders, 14, a freshman, told NBC News. “I saw the blood in the study center and in the gym. We could see blood on the floor. …
“We went on lockdown for about 20 to 30 minutes. There was big line of police and blood splatters by the gym and the study center,” he said.
Madison Berry, a senior at the school, said she had taken classes with the gunman.

“He was very outspoken — always involved with class discussion,” she said. “So it was kind of odd to see that he was the one who did this.”

“You would never expect this to happen at such a great school as Arapahoe,” she added.

Parents were being asked to gather at nearby schools and churches, the sheriff’s office said. They dropped whatever they were doing to rush to the scene — one was seen in full medical scrubs, as though he had just raced out of a doctor’s office, KUSA reported.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Camden Flinders’ father, Marcus Flinders, was working at an area Latter-day Saints temple when he got the news from a fellow congregant.
“I broke down. I thought my son was one of the ones who was injured,” he said. “I was pretty much crying. It was really traumatic.”

‘A traumatic situation’
Authorities said that while they had no indication of a second shooter, they proceeded as though there might have been one as a matter of caution. Students were led out of the building with their arms in the air, some of them being patted down by police.

“The kids have been through a traumatic situation,” Robinson said. “We need to ensure that anyone we evacuate isn’t part of our problem. We’re doing the evacuation slowly and deliberately.”
President Barack Obama was briefed about the shooting, White House officials said.

Arapahoe High School, with 2,000 students, is an affluent suburb of Denver in the same county where James Eagan Holmes is accused of having killed 12 people in a movie theater in the town of Aurora last year.

Asked whether the shooting might have some connection to Saturday’s anniversary of the deadly shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Robinson replied simply, “No.”