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Police are investigating a situation taking place Sunday evening in Missoula in which a shooting is believed to have taken place near Sentinel High School, with two people found lying in a parking lot. Despite the time and date, students actually were at the school due to an open gym night.
What happened?
According to The Missoulian, both victims appeared to be juveniles and were taken to a nearby hospital; both victims were said to be in surgery by Sunday evening.
Officers with rifles and a K9 were in the area to investigate and were looking for both a suspect and a weapon.
At this time, authorities do not believe that the suspect is a threat to the public at large but were still cautious about the situation. That said, officials have also asked people to avoid the area around the school, which were being used as fairgrounds at the time of the incident, and the area around the local Playfair Park, Bancroft and Russell streets.
Students were at the school during the time the shooting was first reported
Despite taking place on Sunday evening, students were said to be at the school due to an open gym night; these students were eventually sent home with their families by officials.
On Twitter, NBC Montana issued the following updates concerning the school being placed on lockdown during the incident; the posts said that the event taking place at the school was a basketball practice session, which was likely part of the open gym night:
“UPDATE: Parent says about 20 students are on lockdown inside Sentinel High School after reported shooting in Missoula. They were there for basketball practice.”
“UPDATE: A man shot two juveniles near the Sentinel High School gymnasium. They’re currently in surgery. Police are searching a large area for the armed suspect.”
“UPDATE: Parent says police escorted Sentinel basketball players out of school safely.”
As mentioned above, the posts also claimed that the school was placed on lockdown because of the incident.
As this story is developing, more information will be updated as made available.
