2 killed, 7 hurt in US arts school shooting

A gunman killed two people and injured seven others in a "devastating and traumatic" attack on a high school in St Louis, Missouri, on Monday.

The victims included a woman who died at the hospital and a teenage girl who was pronounced dead at the scene. Injuries ranged from gunshot wounds to cardiac arrest.

The male suspect, identified as Orlando Harris, was shot while exchanging gunfire with police and was pronounced dead at the hospital, Police Commissioner Michael Sack said.

Harris, 19, had graduated from high school last year and had no previous criminal history, Sack told reporters.

"There are suspicions that there may have been some mental illness that he was experiencing," he added. "We're working on developing that information right now."

The shooting was reported shortly after 9 am at the Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, a top art school in south St Louis with about 400 students. The school doors were locked and seven security workers were on-site, according to police.

Security guards initially noticed the shooter, reportedly armed with a long-barrel gun, as he tried to enter the school. It was unclear how he was able to get past the locked doors.

Math teacher David Williams told the St Louis Post-Dispatch that the principal had made an announcement using a code phrase to indicate a shooter was in the building.

He heard multiple gunshots before bullets shattered one of the windows of his classroom door. He then heard a man say that everyone was going to die.

Police arrived at the school minutes later and ran toward the sound of gunshots, Sack said.

St Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones called the shooting "a devastating and traumatic situation".

"I'm heartbroken for these families who send their children to our schools hoping that they will be safe," she told a news conference.

"Our children shouldn't have to experience this; they shouldn't have to go through active shooter drills in case something happens. And unfortunately, that happened today."

Monday's shooting is one of the dozens that have caused death or injury in US schools this year. One of the deadliest took place in May when a gunman killed 19 students and two adults in Uvalde, Texas.

The US has the most school shootings in the world. At least 36 such incidents have resulted in injury or death in 2022, according to Education Week, the largest number since the organization began tracking school shootings in 2018.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, 1,101 young people between the ages of 12 and 17 have been killed and 3,065 have been injured since January 2022.

Agencies contributed to this story.