2 dead, 1 injured in Oregon high school shooting: police

Two people, including a lone gunman, were killed in a shooting at a high school in Oregon, police say.

The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office said one student died in the shooting at Reynolds High School in Troutdale, which is east of Portland, on Tuesday. The gunman also died, Troutdale Police Chief Scott Anderson told reporters, and the situation had been "stablilized."

Police said they were in the process of notifying the next of kin for both the student and the gunman. They did not release their names.

A teacher was also injured and treated at the scene for non-life-threatening injuries. According to the Oregonian newspaper, the teacher, Todd Rispler, was grazed by a bullet.

According to the authorities, the gunman, armed with a rifle, entered the school and opened fire shortly after 8 a.m. Multiple agencies responded and the school was immediately placed on lockdown as SWAT and tactical units searched the campus, about 16 miles east of Portland.

Police spokesman Sgt. Carey Kaer told the Associated Press that officers located the shooter, a male teen, slumped on a toilet in a bathroom. Police then "used a robot with a camera to investigate and discovered the suspect was dead and that he likely killed himself."

Local television footage showed dozens of officers arriving at the scene, some in armored vehicles, with guns drawn. Students were seen evacuating the school with their arms raised.

During the search, one person thought to be a student was found with a gun and was taken into custody. Police said they did not believe that person was involved in the shooting.

"This is a very tragic day, one I hoped would never be part of my experience," an emotional Reynolds School District Superintendent Linda Florence told reporters.

In an interview with KOIN-TV, the parent of one student said his son had heard six shots fired inside the school.

The Oregonian initially tweeted that police believed there were three shooters. The newspaper later retracted that report.

Nervous parents were directed to a nearby parking lot to wait for buses to be reunited with their children. Deputies told hundreds of parents gathered there that the process would be "slow and emotonal," the paper said.

According to the Reynolds School District website, the school has 2,648 students, making it the second-largest high school in Oregon. Wednesday is the last scheduled day of class at Reynolds High. Graduation was scheduled for Thursday.

President Barack Obama commented on the shooting while participating in a question-and-answer session about student loans on Tumblr.

"We're the only developed country on Earth where this happens," Obama said. "And it happens now once a week. And it's a one-day story. There's no place else like this."

Obama said the nation must figure out a way to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally unstable.

"The United States does not have a monopoly on crazy people," he said. "This country has to do a lot of soul searching."