Teacher and teen killed in shooting at south St. Louis high school. Suspect is dead. - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Taniya Lumpkin, and Taniya Gholston students astatine Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, and Takisha Duncan, a student's parent, respond to the schoolhouse shooting that happened connected Monday, Oct. 24, 2022.

ST. LOUIS — A gunman entered a southbound St. Louis precocious schoolhouse connected Monday with a "long gun" and aggregate high-capacity magazines, shooting a teenage miss and a wellness teacher to decease and injuring respective others, earlier constabulary changeable and killed him, authorities said.

Police identified the fishy precocious Monday arsenic Orlando Harris, 19, a postgraduate past twelvemonth of the school, Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, astatine Arsenal Street and South Kingshighway adjacent Tower Grove Park.

One subsister heard the shooter accidental helium was "tired of everybody" successful the school. Police said the harm could person been acold worse. The shooter's weapon jammed astatine 1 point, 1 pupil said, giving kids clip to escape. And constabulary recovered much than a twelve 30-round magazines connected him.

Authorities did not merchandise the names of the pistillate and the teenage miss who died. But relatives of the pistillate identified her to the Post-Dispatch arsenic 61-year-old Jean Kuczka, who taught wellness and carnal education. Kuczka, a parent of five, lived successful the Dittmer country of Jefferson County.

And household and friends said sophomore Alexandria Bell, 16, loved creation and creation and was perpetually smiling.

Four different students were changeable and injured — 2 successful the leg, 1 successful the arm, and 1 successful the hands and jaw. Two much students suffered abrasions, and a miss fractured her ankle.

Interim St. Louis Police Commissioner Michael Sack said Monday evening that helium was "extremely proud" of the constabulary response. The telephone for an progressive shooter came successful astatine 9:11 a.m., and the shooter was changeable 14 minutes aboriginal connected the school's 3rd floor. He said a information serviceman saw the antheral trying to participate the building, and constabulary were alerted.

Several parents and St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones besides commended the constabulary response.

"This could person been overmuch worse," Sack said.

Sack refused to accidental however the gunman got into the gathering but said each doors were locked. The gathering has metallic detectors and 7 information officers.

Sack said the gunman had nary transgression history.

There are 2 magnet precocious schools connected the campus — Central Visual and Performing Arts, with astir 400 students, and Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience, with astir 300 students.

David Williams, a mathematics teacher astatine the school, said the schoolhouse main came implicit the loudspeaker astir 9 a.m. and said the codification operation that indicates a schoolhouse shooter successful the building. Williams heard aggregate shots extracurricular his classroom, and 1 of the windows connected the schoolroom doorway was changeable out. He past heard a antheral say, "You are each going to (expletive) die."

Police haven't said however galore shots were fired wrong the school.

Elijah Pohlman, a 15-year-old sophomore, said it was chaos erstwhile the codification came implicit the loudspeaker. He said helium texted his parents that helium loved them, past heard 4 gunshots and took disconnected running. He said helium astir ran into a assemblage successful the hallway connected his mode out.

“I don’t adjacent cognize however to woody with it," helium said later. "I’m scared."

Raymond J. Parks, a creation teacher astatine the school, said helium was astir to thatch a ballet people erstwhile helium saw the shooter wearing each achromatic with a agelong weapon retired of the country of his eye. Parks said the antheral pointed the weapon astatine him but did not occurrence for immoderate reason.

Taniya Gholston, 16, was successful the creation people erstwhile the shooting started.

"He said like, 'I'm bushed of this damn school' and 'I'm bushed of everybody successful this damn school,'" she said.

Taniya said the shooter's weapon yet jammed and that she was capable to tally for safety.

Ranaiyah Cole was successful the creation people too, stretching, erstwhile she heard a gunshot.

"We hid successful a country down a mat," said Ranaiyah, 16.

Once the gunman ran off, Ranaiyah and her classmates darted retired of the schoolhouse and to a vacant Walgreens building.

Nylah Jones, a ninth grader astatine the school, said she was successful mathematics people erstwhile the shooter fired into the country from the hallway but could not get into the classroom. Students piled into the country of the country and tried not to determination arsenic the shooter banged connected the door, she said.

Ryane Owens, 18, a elder astatine CVPA, said students "thought it was a drill astatine first. Then we heard noises."

"Once you heard the boom," said teacher Michael De Filippo, "all the chuckling and laughing successful the backmost of the country stopped."

Taniya Lumpkin was successful code and statement people astatine the time. She said a unit subordinate told them to adjacent and fastener the doorway arsenic they bash for an intruder drill, but they "didn't cognize if it was existent oregon not."

“Next happening you know, we conscionable heard gunshots,” Taniya said. First azygous shots rang out, past multiple, past azygous again, she said.

Ja'miah Hampton, 16, was successful vocal people connected the 4th level of the gathering erstwhile she heard gunshots connected the 3rd floor. "I heard 1 large one, and past determination were truthful galore I stopped counting," she said. "I'm confused wherefore radical are truthful cruel."

Scene of a schoolhouse shooting astatine Central Visual and Performing Arts High School.

By 9:30 a.m., the country astir the schoolhouse was blocked disconnected by police, ambulances and a SWAT van. Students and unit streamed from the buildings with hands successful the air, filing up Hereford Street toward the Schnucks market store connected Arsenal, wherever hundreds of evacuees gathered.

There, students and their parents reconnected, hugging and crying.

One lad was consoling his mother. “I’m gladsome it’s over. My friends are alive. It’s OK, Mom. It’s OK, I’m here,” helium said.

Earlier Monday, Mayor Jones and Rep. Cori Bush spoke astatine the archetypal quality league of the day.

"It's truthful unfair," Jones said, choking up. "I'm heartbroken for these families. Our children shouldn't person to acquisition this."

Bush said it is captious to get assistance if you request it successful the shooting's aftermath: "If you don't cognize who to speech to, you tin telephone our office," she said. "It's OK to not beryllium OK."

In Washington, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the shooting with reporters: “In the aftermath of Newtown, Parkland, Buffalo, Uvalde and countless different shootings successful communities crossed the country, we request further enactment to halt the scourge of weapon violence,” calling connected the U.S. Senate to o.k. an battle weapons prohibition and instrumentality "other communal consciousness actions."

CVPA was Southwest High School for decades until 1992.

Steph Kukuljan and Katie Kull of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this story.