- The Province

CHARDON, Ohio — A boy opened fire on classmates early Monday in a high school cafeteria in Ohio, killing one and wounding four before fleeing and being apprehended, police and witnesses said.

Children were preparing for class at Chardon High School, outside Cleveland, when the boy, who was identified by classmates but described by police only as a "juvenile", started shooting with a handgun.

A teacher chased the boy from the school as the small community was placed on lockdown and the victims were rushed to hospital, some by helicopter.

The boy was arrested a short while later, turning himself in to bystanders, according to one police statement.

"The sad news is that I know from my people downtown, we have one deceased student right now," Chardon police chief Tim McKenna told a press conference, providing no more information about the injured.

"One of the teachers happened to chase the shooting suspect out of the building," allowing officers to enter and secure the school to allow emergency personnel to treat the victims, he said.

"With that done, we started searching the areas, and shortly thereafter, we came up with the suspect. He is in custody," McKenna said. "No name will be released because he hasn't been charged yet. He is a juvenile."

Authorities put the school on lockdown after shots were fired at about 7:30 am (1230 GMT), just prior to the start of classes.

Masked SWAT team members ringed Chardon High and conducted security sweeps, and pupils were quickly evacuated from the building and transported to a nearby elementary school to be released to parents.

Police didn't identify the suspect but fellow classmates did and described the panic inside the cafeteria as they feared for their lives.

"My friends were crawling on the floor, and one of my friends was bent over the table, and he was shot," one student, Nate, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "It was almost like a firecracker went off. I turned around and saw him standing with a gun and I saw him take a shot."

Word of the tragedy sent parents rushing to the school, where they went through a protracted process of reuniting with their children.

"We've had disaster drills in the past, thank God we put those into place because our teaching staff did an excellent job in a very horrible, traumatic experience this morning," said Chardon schools superintendent Joe Bergant.

"Our prayers go out to the five victims and their families, first and foremost.

"We feel so disheartened — it's going to take me a moment to get back together here. We certainly hope those families know that they're in our thoughts and our prayers."

A candlelight vigil service was scheduled for Tuesday night at a local church and grief counselors were on call to help the small-town Ohio community try to come to terms with the tragedy.

"Pls pray for wounded Chardon HS students, their families, and their community; appears things under control now," Ohio Governor John Kasich said on Twitter.

A parent, Jeannette Roth, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that her son, Joshua, a junior, was in the cafeteria when the shooting occurred.

Joshua told her that students were eating breakfast when a boy "stood up and starting shooting, and then it was chaos."

Another boy also described the chaotic situation.

"I thought it was firecrackers at first, I wasn't sure," an unnamed pupil told MSNBC.

"And then I saw a bunch of people running out. So I started running . . . . I heard someone yell behind me, 'Get down.' And I heard a bunch of shots fired behind me."