Nevada school shooting leaves math teacher, shooter dead

SPARKS, Nev. – A student at a Nevada middle school opened fire with a semi-automatic handgun on campus just before the starting bell Monday, wounding two 12-year-old boys and killing a math teacher who was trying to protect children from their classmate.

The unidentified shooter killed himself with the gun after a rampage that occurred in front of 20 to 30 horrified students who had just returned to school from a weeklong fall break. Authorities did not provide a motive for the shooting, and it’s unknown where the student got the gun.

Teacher Michael Landsberry was being hailed for his actions during the shooting outside Sparks Middle School.

“In my estimation, he is a hero. … We do know he was trying to intervene,” Reno deputy police Chief Tom Robinson said.

Both wounded students were listed in stable condition. One was shot in the shoulder, and the other was hit in the abdomen.

Landsberry, 45, was a military veteran and leaves behind a wife and two stepdaughters. Sparks Mayor Geno Martini said Landsberry served two tours in Afghanistan with the Nevada National Guard.

“He proudly served his country and was proudly defending the students at his school,” Martini said.

Police said 150 to 200 officers responded to the shooting, including some from as far as 60 miles away. Students from the middle school and neighboring elementary school were evacuated to the nearby high school, and classes were canceled. The middle school will remain closed for the week.

“As you can imagine, the best description is chaos,” Robinson said. “It’s too early to say whether he was targeting people or going on an indiscriminate shooting spree.”

At the evacuation center, parents comforted their children.

“We came flying down here to get our kids,” said Mike Fiorica, whose nephew attends the school. “You can imagine how parents are feeling. You don’t know if your kid’s OK.”

The shooting happened on the school’s campus and ended outside the school building, according to police.

About 700 students in seventh and eighth grades are enrolled at the school, in a working-class neighborhood.

“It’s not supposed to happen here,” Chanda Landsberry said. “We’re just Sparks – little Sparks, Nevada. It’s unreal.”

The mayor praised the quick response from law officers who arrived at the scene within three minutes of a flood of 911 calls to find the gunman already dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“They got it under control very quickly and shut down the scene,” Martini said.