1 killed, 8 injured in US school shooting (2nd Lead)

An 18-year-old student was killed and eight other were injured when two students opened fire inside a school in Denver city of the US state of Colorado, authorities said.

The two suspects were apprehended after the shooting at the STEM School Highlands Ranch on Tuesday, said Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock.

Out of the two, the adult suspect was named as 18-year-old Devon Erickson. They both are believed to be students at the school, Spurlock was cited as saying by CNN.

The shooting started in the high school just before 2 p.m. The suspects walked into the school and "got deep inside the school," engaging students in two separate classrooms. One student, an 18-year-old male, was killed in the school, said Deputy Cocha Heyden, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office.

The incident rattled an area that just marked the 20th anniversary of the deadly shooting at Columbine High School, about seven miles away from the STEM school. Thirteen people were gunned by two teenagers in the Columbine attack.

Holly Nicholson-Kluth, undersheriff for the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, said the Tuesday shooting started in the middle school portion of the campus and an administrator called the police after hearing shots.

Spurlock said that a handgun was used in the attack and that the suspects were "not on the radar" of law enforcement.

"Tragically, this community (in Colorado) and those surrounding it know all too well these hateful and horrible acts of violence," the White House said in a statement.

Authorities were working to obtain search warrants for the suspects' homes, officials said.

--IANS

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