JACKSBORO, United States: A teenager shot and killed an assistant principal and seriously wounded two other administrators at a high school, officials said. The student was arrested.

"I don't know what he was thinking or what his motives were," Sheriff Ron McClellan said.

Campbell County High School Assistant Principal Ken Bruce was shot in the chest just after 2 pm on Tuesday and died soon after at a hospital, law enforcement and school officials said.

The suspect, Ken Bartley Jr, 15, was grazed in the hand by a bullet fired from his own 0.22-caliber handgun during a scuffle with the administrators and an unidentified teacher who helped wrestle the gun away, the sheriff's department said.

No other students were injured.

Principal Gary Seale was shot in the lower abdomen, and Assistant Principal Jim Pierce was shot in the chest. Seale was in serious condition and Pierce in critical condition at University of Tennessee Medical Centre in Knoxville, spokeswoman Lisa McNeal said.

School will be closed the rest of the week, and counsellors will be available to help students and teachers on Monday, schools director Judy Blevins said.

"This situation could have gotten much worse. It did not because our staff followed the (emergency) plan in place," said Mark Wells, vice-chairman of the Campbell County Board of Education.

Authorities were unsure if the suspect would be charged as a juvenile or an adult. He was being held in a juvenile detention facility in nearby Scott County.

The 1,400-student school, located about 50 kilometres northwest of Knoxville, was locked down after the shooting. Students said Seale was able to get to the school intercom and order the lockdown after being shot.

"Knowing him, he probably did," the sheriff said. "He is a tough fellow and a great individual. That sounds like him. Whoever did it, he did the right thing."

Clifford Kohlmeyer, a former assistant principal at the school, said the three victims were dedicated educators and family men. Both Seale and Pierce have been educators more than 30 years, he said. "Mr Bruce, the one who got killed, had been a lieutenant colonel in the Army and came back to teach about eight years ago," Kohlmeyer said. "We shared an office for two years. He was very dedicated to the students."

(China Daily 11/10/2005 page7)