3 teens wounded in shooting outside Iowa high school

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Three people have been wounded in a shooting outside an Iowa high school, authorities said Monday.

KCCI-TV reports that Sgt. Paul Parizek said potential suspects have been detained in the Monday afternoon shooting on the grounds of East High School, near Des Moines’ downtown, about a half-mile from the Capitol. Police said the three teens are in critical condition. He didn’t know whether they were students.

“It is a punch in the gut that we have three kids in the hospital,” he said, “but we are hoping for the best for them.”

He said calls started pouring in around 2:50 p.m., shortly before classes were scheduled to dismiss for the day. The district said in a series of tweets that the school was initially locked down but later it announced that students were being allowed to go home.

Police said they do not believe there is a continued threat to the public.

“It is sad but we do train for this. We do have to be prepared for it and this is why.”

The motive wasn’t immediately released and he had no details on the potential suspects.

“Obviously, we threw every resource we had at this. We know that the kids in that school are our community’s most precious cargo.”

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