One dead, eight injured in Santa Fe Province school shooting

A 13-year-old student was killed and eight others injured on Monday when a 15-year-old pupil opened fire at a school in Santa Fe Province, the provincial government said.

The shooting occurred at Escuela N°40 Mariano Moreno secondary school in the city of San Cristóbal. The suspected attacker was arrested, a source at the provincial Security Ministry confirmed.

Six students were treated at the local hospital for minor injuries sustained while fleeing the scene and are out of danger, said a statement from the provincial government. 

Two other students were transferred to the Rafaela Regional Hospital, one in serious though stable condition.

The identity of the attacker has not yet been officially released.

“I went upstairs and just as I was about to come down, some students saw a boy come out of the bathroom with a gun and they started screaming. He just started shooting into the air and we all ran,” a student at the school, identified as Priscila, told Radio Con Vos.

“There were injured students, not only from the pellets but also because they were breaking windows to escape,” she added.

The shooting occurred at around 7.15am, while students were waiting to raise the flag, as they do each day before classes begin.

The school is located in San Cristóbal, a small city in north-west Santa Fe province of around 16,000 inhabitants.

"This is a very, very sad and deeply distressing moment. First and foremost, we wish to offer our support to the family of Ian, the young man who lost his life today," said Pablo Cococcioni, provincial Justice & Security minister, at a press conference held hours after the incident, referring to the fatal victim by name.

Regarding the suspected assailant, "he has no criminal record; we had no reason to intervene throughout his entire school career," Cococcioni told a news conference.

However, he revealed the shooter "was going through a very complex private family situation," leading authorities to understand "this was not a school-related conflict."

Priscila – who said she was a fifth-year student at the school – said San Cristóbal is a “quiet” place where “everyone knows each other,” and added that she had previously been friends with the attacker’s sister.

Local media reports said the attacker had been prevented from causing more harm by a a school assistant who attempted to stop him firing.

Some students recorded video footage from inside the school, showing the panic as shots were heard.

Several police vehicles and emergency personnel arrived at the scene. 

The weapon used by the attacker “was reportedly a shotgun,” San Cristóbal government secretary Ramiro Muñoz told the TN television channel.

“The attacker, aged between 15 and 16, reportedly pulled a shotgun from his rucksack, shot several classmates and killed a 13-year-old boy,” he added. 

Authorities are working to determine how the teenager managed to bring the weapon into the school. It is believed he may have concealed it inside a guitar case.

“We spoke with teachers and they told us [the perpetrator] is a good student and had never shown behavioural problems, which makes this all the more surprising,” Muñoz said of the suspect.

Classes were suspended and students were sent home.

Argentina rarely records school shootings. Civilian gun ownership is more tightly regulated than in countries such as the United States and firearms are not commonly carried by teenagers.

Previous school shootings included the killing in 2000 of one student in Rafael Calzada and three in 2004 in Carmen de Patagones, both in Buenos Aires Province.

“It is very difficult to find an explanation for these events – and even more so when they happen in a school setting,” said Cococcioni. “This is something completely extraordinary, something we never expected.”

– TIMES/AFP/NA