Suspect in custody after 4 students shot inside Dallas high school

Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde gave a brief news conference after a shooting injured four people at Wilmer-Hutchins High School on Tuesday afternoon.

Elizalde said just after 5 p.m. Tuesday that all students had been reunited with parents and guardians and that school was canceled at the high school for the rest of the week. Elizalde said mental health counselors would be available to students and staff.

"You don't ever just get used to this and I'm very aware of that," Elizalde said. "It certainly weighs very heavy on my heart. But I can't begin to imagine, as a parent myself, I'm trying to put myself in those shoes."

The superintendent said a Dallas ISD police officer was at the school when the shooting occurred and responded within two minutes. The Dallas ISD police were soon joined by city police in Wilmer, Hutchins and Dallas, the Texas DPS, Dallas County Sheriff's Office, county constables and other agencies.

Additional officers will be on campus when classes resume next week.

Dallas ISD Superintendent Dr. Stephanie Elizalde announced during a brief news conference Tuesday afternoon that classes at Wilmer-Hutchins High School would be canceled for the rest of the week.

Classes will proceed as normal at all other Dallas ISD campuses.

Elizalde said mental health counselors were available to students and staff members.

The Dallas ISD police said a suspect in the shooting has been identified but is not in custody.

The shooter's current location is not known and their name has not been released to the public.

Police also did not say anything about what may have happened in the moments leading up to the shooting or share any details about how the gun got into the building.

Police said they confirmed the gun used in the shooting did not enter the building through "regular intake," when the students enter the building in the morning through metal detectors and are subject to a bag search.

Earlier in the afternoon, Dallas City Councilman Tennell Atkins said someone must have let someone in with the gun. Police officials have not confirmed that assessment or offered an alternative explanation.

Officials with Dallas Fire-Rescue confirmed to NBC 5 that three people were shot inside the school and another was grazed.

DFR said injuries range from serious to not life-threatening and the students' ages were 15 to 18. DFR said the age of one of the patients transported was unknown.

A Wilmer-Hutchins student who spoke with NBC 5 said she is a junior and was in class when the shooting took place last year. She said on Tuesday she was back in class when she heard gunshots.

"We were in class and I saw him walk by and then two seconds later I heard like six shots, and the teacher ran to the door and closed it and told us to hide in the corner," she said.

Said she heard one shot and thought something fell and then she heard five more shots.

The student told NBC 5 she heard the shooting was over a dice game. Police have not confirmed that information.

LaTara Dobbin said she arrived at the school at about 220 p.m. and found her 9th-grader at the elementary school. She said her son jumped out of a window at the high school and ran to a nearby elementary school

"This is going on too much at this school. Last year, my oldest son was a senior here, and there was a shooting. Now he's here and the same thing is going on. It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. I'm going to have to transfer him or something because this is going on too often here," Dobbin said.

Dobbin said she has a lot of questions, including how someone got inside the building with a gun.

Jose Morales spoke with NBC 5 and said his wife and two children were inside the school when the shooting erupted.

“My daughter said they shot right where she was at, so she had to hide in the counselor's office. But my wife was already here ... my son was in another part of the school, so they’re both OK."

Morales said he left his job in Fort Worth as soon as he heard about the shooting.

"I’m feeling very anxious, I just drove from Fort Worth. I left my job and came straight over here, so I haven’t seen her yet. The kids are still inside the school. My kids are still trapped inside the school. They won’t let them out, they’re inside the school."

Dallas City Council Member Tennell Atkins, who represents District 8, including the high school, told NBC 5 three students were hurt, but he couldn't confirm they had all been shot.

Atkins said he was under the impression the injuries were not life-threatening.

At this time, Dallas police have only confirmed one shooting victim.

Atkins said it appears someone let someone else into the school before the shooting took place. Atkins said police know who the shooter is, but he couldn't confirm whether or not the person was in custody.

From the Dallas ISD -- parents and guardians can now reunify with their students at Eagle Stadium, 5520 Langdon Road.

Please bring a photo ID. We understand this is a difficult time and ask for your patience. Counselors are on site and available.

Dallas police sources confirmed to NBC 5 that a student was shot inside Wilmer-Hutchins High School on Tuesday. Police did not share any information about the condition of the injured student.

It's unclear if anyone is in custody and police have not yet said what happened in the moments leading up to the shooting.

A parent who spoke with NBC 5 said his daughter is a student at the school and that she said she heard at least five gunshots. He said she was still inside the school, locked in her classroom, when she talked to her brother.

“I was there about 40 minutes before the shooting. I had a meeting with one of the teachers, and we just went to take a lunch. Then she called my son about the shots, and we just came right away. That’s all we know," said parent Oscar Lilli. "It’s very scary because your life can change in one second. It’s hard to hear about these kinds of problems, but there is nothing we can control."

According to numbers shared by the Dallas ISD, 894 students attend the high school

At 1:25 p.m., Dallas ISD said there was an active investigation going on at the school. They want help from the media to encourage parents to not come to the campus. 

At 1:38 p.m., Dallas police confirmed that at about 1 p.m. Dallas police responded to a shooting call in the 5500 block of Langdon Road. This is an active call, and information is limited.