Two dead after shooting at Nevada school

A teacher was shot and killed by a student at a middle school on Monday near Reno, Nevada. The shooter then turned the gun on himself.

Sparks Middle School was put on lockdown Monday morning after shots were heard shortly after 7 a.m. local time, KVVU-TV reported. Several people were reportedly injured.

Around two hours after the incident first unfolded, police officials confirmed to the Reno Gazette Journal that two people were declared dead, including the gunman. Authorities have since confirmed that the gunman—a student at Sparks—was among the deceased, apparently having committed suicide.

The second person killed during the shooting was later identified as Michael Landsberry, an eighth grade math teacher at the school.

Landsberry's family told the Reno Gazette-Journal that the teacher, who was also in the Nevada Army National Guard and served several tours in Afghanistan, had tried to get the student shooter to put his gun down before being shot and killed.

“The teacher came to investigate,” eight grader Kyle Nucum, 13, told the Gazette. “I thought it was a firecracker at first, but the student was pointing a gun at the teacher after the teacher told him to put it down, and the student fired a shot at the teacher and the teacher fell and everybody ran away."

“And we ran across the field to get somewhere safe and while we were running we heard about four or five more shots and we just got somewhere safe."

“To hear he was trying to protect those kids doesn’t surprise me at all,” said Chanda Landsberry, who is married to Michael’s younger brother. “He could have ducked and hid, but he didn’t. That’s not who he is.”

Sparks City Manager Shawn Carey told the Journal earlier that day that the alleged shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

According to Journal reporter Siobhan McAndrew, 13-year-old Kyle Nucum said the shooter was another student dressed in the Sparks middle school uniform.

“You ruined my life, now I’m going to ruin yours,” Nucum told McAndrew he heard the shooter say before opening fire on a teacher.

Renown Regional Hospital spokeswoman Angela Rambo said that two male patients, both minors, were in critical condition at her facility, the Journal reported.

The school is located just east of Reno, Nevada and has around 630 students enrolled in grades seven and eight.

Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval has released a statement saying he was “deeply saddened to learn of the horrific shooting” and that his family extends their “thoughts and prayers to the victims and those affected by these tragic events.”

Reno Police Deputy Chief Tom Robinson said during the Monday morning press conference that parents can “rest assured.”

“The schools are safe. The rest of the city is safe,” Robinson said.

PHOTO: Children, parents stand outside at Sparks Middle School after shooting (via @KOLO8) http://t.co/MgfrxRgO79pic.twitter.com/CZiAQlqsQL

— FOX5 Vegas KVVU (@FOX5Vegas) October 21, 2013