Maryland school shooting: Student fires at Great Mills; girl dead; updates

A shooting erupted at a high school in the eastern US state of Maryland today, but the event was quickly "contained," officials said. The attack comes just days before a nationwide student-organised march against school violence.

There were no immediate official reports of casualties in the shooting at Great Mills High School, located about a 90-minute drive southeast of the US capital Washington. St Mary's County Public Schools said on its website that the school was on lockdown and the incident had been "contained" but provided no further details.

It said law enforcement was on the scene. "It happened really quickly, right after school started" after 8:00 am (1200 GMT), Jonathan Freese, a student at the school, told CNN. "The police came and responded really quickly," Freese said. "They had a lot of officers respond." "Right now, the police are going through classrooms," he said. "Soon we are going to be escorted from the school."

The Great Mills incident comes about five weeks after a shooting at a Florida high school left 14 students and three adult staff members dead.

Purchasing a gun in the US? Walmart just hiked the minimum age limit to 21

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Dick's Sporting Goods Inc said it will permanently stop selling assault-style rifles after the massacre at a Florida high school that has reopened a fierce debate over gun control in America.

The US retailer of camping supplies, sporting goods and guns will also stop selling high-capacity magazines and will not sell any guns to people under age 21, Dick's chief executive, Ed Stack, said in an open letter on the company's website.

Hours later, Walmart Inc, the largest US retailer, said it was raising the minimum age for the purchase of firearms and ammunition to 21 from 18. Walmart stopped selling assault-style firearms and accessories in 2015.

The announcements came the same day that classes resumed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people, mostly students, were killed two weeks ago in one of the deadliest US mass shootings.

Two injured in early morning shootout at Southeastern Louisiana University

Two people were injured in a shooting early today at Southeastern Louisiana University, the university said, nine days after a massacre at a Florida high school sparked a national uproar over US gun violence.
"University Police confirmed incident occurred on North Campus involving several individuals.

Gunshots fired, 2 individuals suffered non-life threatening injuries," the university said in a statement on Twitter.
Students were warned by the school's emergency alert system at 4:01 am (local time), it said.
"No present threat to campus community," it said, adding that university police were investigating the incident.
The incident at the university in Hammond, Louisiana, came amid a national debate over gun control sparked by the killing of 17 students and adults at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on February 14.