Two people were killed in a shooting at a high school in St. Louis; the gunman was killed.
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (AP) – An armed former student stormed into a St. Louis high school Monday morning, yelling, “You are all going to die!” before fatally shooting a teacher and a teenage girl and injuring seven others before being killed by police in an exchange of gunfire.
The attack at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School shortly after 9 a.m. led students to barricade doors, cower in classroom corners, jump from windows, and flee the building for safety. One terrified girl claimed she was eye-to-eye with the shooter when his rifle jammed and she was able to flee.
Speaking at a news conference Monday afternoon, police Chief Michael Sack identified the shooter as 19-year-old Orlando Harris, who graduated from the school last year.
Sack said the motive was still being investigated, but “there are suspicions that he may be suffering from some mental illness.” Investigators later searched Harris’ residence, according to Sack.
The victims were not identified by authorities, however the St. Louis Post-Dispatch identified the deceased teacher as Jean Kuczka. Her daughter claimed that her mother was slain when the gunman entered her classroom and she moved between him and her students.
“My mom loved kids,” Abbey Kuczka told the paper. “She cared deeply about her students.” Her students looked at her as if she were their mother.”
Sack said the other fatality was a 16-year-old female who died at the school.
Seven other 15- and 16-year-old students, four boys and three girls, were all in stable condition. Four students suffered gunshot wounds or graze wounds, two suffered bruises and one had a broken ankle.
Sack declined to say how Harris was able to get into the building, which has security guards, locked doors and metal detectors.
“If there’s somebody who has a will, they’re going to figure out, we don’t want to make it easy for them,” Sack said. “We just got to do the best we can to extend that time it takes them to get into the building to buy us time to respond.”
Harris had the gun out when he arrived at the school and “there was no mystery about what was going to happen. He had it out and entered in an aggressive, violent manner.”
Harris had nearly a dozen high-capacity magazines of ammunition with him, Sack said. “That’s a whole lot of victims. … It’s certainly tragic for the families and it’s tragic for our community but it could have been a whole lot worse.”
St. Louis Schools Superintendent Kelvin Adams said seven security guards were in the school at the time of the attack, each stationed at an entrance of the locked building. One of the guards noticed the gunman trying unsuccessfully to get in at a locked door. The guard notified school officials, who contacted police.
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Sack said the call regarding a shooter came in at 9:11 a.m., and officers responded at 9:25 a.m. to apprehend Harris. He and others commended the officers’ and other emergency personnel’ prompt response.
Central Visual and Performing Arts shares a facility with Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience, another magnet school. Collegiate has 336 students, whereas Central has 383.
According to Education Week, Monday’s school shooting was the 40th this year that resulted in injury or death – the most in any year since the publication began tracking shootings in 2018. Among the fatal attacks were the May killings at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, which killed 19 children and two instructors. Monday’s St. Louis game
The shooting occurred on the same day as a Michigan teenager pleaded guilty to terrorism and first-degree murder in connection with a December 2021 school shooting that killed four pupils.
Taniya Gholston stated the shooter’s gun jammed as he entered her classroom, saving her life. “All I heard was two shots, and he came in there with a gun,” the 16-year-old said to the Post-Dispatch. “I tried to run, but I couldn’t.” I made eye contact with him, but I couldn’t make it out because his gun jammed.”
Two teachers described close encounters with the shooter.
Ashley Rench told The Associated Press she was teaching advanced algebra to sophomores when she heard a loud bang. Then the school intercom announced, “Miles Davis is in the building.”
“That’s our code for intruder,” Rench said.
Students took refuge beneath her desk and behind her podium as the shooter tried to enter the locked classroom before giving up and going away.
“I don’t know why he chose not to break my windows or shoot through the lock,” she said.
Raymond Parks was about to teach a dance class for juniors when a man dressed in black approached. At first, Parks thought the man was carrying a broom or a stick. Then he realized it was a gun.
The kids started screaming and running and scrambling. He walked directly into the two doors and pointed the gun over at me because I was in the front,” Parks said.
For some unknown reason, Parks said, the shooter pointed the gun away from him and let Parks and the dozen or so students leave the room. “That’s what I don’t understand. He let me go,” Parks said.
Janay Douglas’ 15-year-old daughter got stuck in a hallway when the school was locked down. Douglas said she received a call from her daughter letting her know she heard shots.
“One of her friends busted through the door, he was shot in the hand, and then her and her friends just took off running. The phone disconnected,” Douglas said. “I was on my way.”
Kuczka, the slain teacher, taught health at Central for 14 years and recently began coaching cross-country at Collegiate, her daughter said. “She was definitely looking forward to retirement though. She was close,” Abbey Kuczka said.
Kuczka’s biography on the school website said she was the married mother of five and a grandmother of seven. She was an avid bike rider and was part of a 1979 national championship field hockey team at what is now Missouri State University.
“I can’t imagine myself doing anything other than teaching,” Kuczka stated on her website. “I taught swimming lessons at the YMCA in high school.” “I knew I wanted to be a teacher from then on.”
Tishaura Jones, the mayor of St. Louis, was shaken by the incident.
“Our children shouldn’t have to experience this,” she remarked. “They shouldn’t have to go through active shooter drills just in case.” And, sadly, this occurred today.”
Additional action is needed to prevent gun violence, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
Every day the Senate fails to send an assault weapons ban to the president’s desk or fails to adopt additional common sense reforms is a day too late for families and communities affected by gun violence,” Jean-Pierre said.
All of the district’s schools were placed on lockdown for the remainder of the day, and all after-school events, including sports, were canceled.
Julie Wright, AP News Editor, contributed from Kansas City, Missouri. Margaret Stafford provided reporting from Liberty, Missouri. Salter contributed reporting from O’Fallon, Missouri.
