Nevada School Shooting: Shooter Used 9 MM Pistol to Kill Teacher, Injure Students
The student responsible for the Sparks Middle School shooting in Nevada, which left a teacher dead and two wounded students, used a Ruger 9 mm semiautomatic handgun, police revealed.
The 12-year-old boy, whose name has not been released, first shot a fellow student in the shoulder and then shot and killed teacher Mike Landsberry before shooting a second student in the abdomen, Washoe County School District Police Chief Mike Mieras said at a news conference on Tuesday.
Landsberry, an 8th grade math teacher, is being hailed a hero by colleagues and survivors, who said he died while protecting students in the deadly incident.
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"We have a lot of heroes today, including our children ... and our fallen hero, an amazing teacher," Washoe County School District Superintendent Pedro Martinez said, according to The Associated Press.
"We've got video we have to review, people we've got to talk to," added Tom Robinson, deputy chief of Reno police, USA Today noted. "But in my estimation, he is a hero. We do know he was trying to intervene."
A lone gunman, a student, opened fire on Monday morning on the school's campus outside the building, though motives for the attack have not yet been established. The shooter killed himself after taking the life of the 45-year-old former serviceman and wounding two 12-year-old classmates.
"No words of condolence could possibly ease the pain, but I hope it is some small comfort that Nevada mourns with them. I stand by to be of any assistance if there is anything that can be done," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said in a statement shortly after the incident.
The actions of the teacher were witnessed by 20 or 30 students, including Jose Cazares, who saw the gunman shoot two students and aim the gun at his chest before Landsberry stepped in and stopped him.
"He was telling him to stop and put the gun down. Then the kid, he yelled out 'No!' Like, he was yelling at him, and he shot him," Cazares said in an interview. "He was calm, he was holding out his hand like, 'put the gun in my hand.'"
