Michigan High School Shooting Leaves Three Dead, Six Injured

The teen was in possession of the gun, loaded with seven rounds, when police took him into custody within three minutes of arriving on the scene, about five minutes after receiving 911 calls, shortly before 1 p.m., officials said. A deputy stationed full time at the high school assisted in the arrest, the Oakland County undersheriff said.

The students who were killed were identified by police Tuesday night as Tate Myre, a 16-year-old who died in a police car before an officer could get him to the hospital; 14-year-old Hanna St. Julian; and 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin. Police declined to identify the suspect Tuesday.

One of the eight people injured is a 47-year-old teacher who was treated for a graze wound to the shoulder and released Tuesday, said

Michael Bouchard,

the Oakland County sheriff. The other seven were all students, according to police. Three were in critical condition and another was in serious condition Tuesday night, police said. A number of students suffered injuries while evacuating the school, police said, none of them life-threatening.

Mr. Bouchard said the gun used had been purchased by the suspect’s father four days before the shooting. The suspect posted photos of the weapon on social media before the shooting, police said.

Mr. Bouchard said police have no indication that the suspect had disciplinary problems at school or previous contact with law enforcement.

Rob Guzanek, whose daughter is in a program for students with disabilities at Oxford High School, said he was working from home when his wife received a text message saying the school was on lockdown.

Mr. Guzanek got in his car and drove about 3 miles toward the school. While waiting at the perimeter staging area in a supermarket parking lot, Mr. Guzanek said he and other parents helped students, who arrived there on foot, find shelter from the freezing weather in neighboring houses and call their parents to arrange to be picked up.

“It’s like nothing that nobody ever experienced, because, you know, you had the three students die,” Mr. Guzanek said.

Eventually, he said he received a call from his daughter’s teacher, who told him that his daughter and 15 other students with special needs were locked in an office as the shooting took place. The students were evacuated from the school on foot across a snow-covered field, he said, with one pushed in a wheelchair, Mr. Guzanek said.

His daughter was unharmed, he said, thanks to her teachers. “They are the ones who need to be recognized, that made sure the kids were safe,” he said.

Oxford Community Schools Superintendent Tim Throne called the shooting “devastating.”

“You certainly can pray for our families here in Oxford, and our students,” he said.

The suspect appears to have acted alone and didn’t resist arrest or fire at officers, officials said. “He wants an attorney. He’s not telling us anything at this point in time,” Oakland County Undersheriff

Mike McCabe

said. The suspect was being held in a juvenile jail, Mr. McCabe said.

Mr. McCabe said police were still investigating possible motives. A search warrant was executed at the suspect’s home Tuesday evening and he could appear in court as soon as Wednesday, he said.

President Biden spoke about the shooting ahead of his remarks on infrastructure in Rosemount, Minn. “My heart goes out to the families enduring the unimaginable grief of losing their loved ones,” he said. “You’ve got to know that that whole community has to be just in a state of shock right now.”

Michigan

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

said she was heartbroken for students and staff at the school. She thanked law-enforcement officials involved and called gun violence a public-health crisis.

“No one should be afraid to go to school, work, a house of worship, or even their own home,” Ms. Whitmer, a Democrat, said. “We have the tools to reduce gun violence in Michigan. This is a time for us to come together and help our children feel safe at school.”

The governor, who grew emotional at a news conference, said it is too early to discuss whether changes to gun-control policies are needed. “At this point I think we need to focus on the tragedy at hand at the moment,” she said.

The school has an enrollment of about 1,800 students, according to police. School administration conducted its most recent planned safety drill for responding to an active-shooter situation in early October, according to the school’s website.

Classes in the district are canceled for the rest of the week, district officials said Tuesday in a letter to parents.

According to statistics published by the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security, there have been 220 shootings at U.S. K-12 schools in 2021, the most in any year since at least 1970.

—Kris Maher and Tarini Parti contributed to this article.

Correction
Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe said a deputy stationed full time at Oxford High School assisted in the arrest of a shooting suspect. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said the sheriff commented on the deputy. (Nov. 30)

Write to Ben Chapman at Ben.Chapman@wsj.com and Omar Abdel-Baqui at Omar.Abdel-Baqui@wsj.com