Shooting at an Ohio school kills 1, injures 4

CHARDON, Ohio -- A teen described as an outcast at a suburban Cleveland high school opened fire in the cafeteria Monday, killing one student and wounding four others before he was chased from the building by a teacher and captured a short distance away, authorities said.

A student who saw the attack said it appeared that the gunman targeted a group of students sitting at a cafeteria table and that the one who was killed was trying to duck under the table.

The slain student, Daniel Parmertor, was an aspiring computer repairman.

Panicked students ran screaming through the halls after gunfire broke out at the start of the school day at 1,100-student Chardon High in this town of 5,100 people 30 miles from Cleveland.

Teachers locked down their classrooms and students took cover as they waited for the all-clear.

One teacher was said to have dragged a wounded student into his classroom for protection. Another chased the gunman out of the building, police said.

The suspect, whose name was not released because he is a juvenile, was arrested near his car a half mile away, the FBI said. He was not immediately charged.

FBI officials would not comment on a motive for the attack. Police Chief Tim McKenna said authorities "have a lot of homework to do yet" in their investigation.

But 15-year-old Danny Komertz, who witnessed the shooting, said the gunman was known as an outcast who had apparently been bullied.

"I looked up, and this kid was pointing a gun about 10 feet away from me to a group of four kids sitting at a table," Danny said. He said the gunman fired two shots quickly, and students scrambled for safety. One of them was "trying to get underneath the table, trying to hide, protecting his face."

Other students disagreed that the student was a victim of bullying or an outcast, saying he was just quiet.

"Even though he was quiet, he still had friends," said Tyler Lillash, 16. "He was not bullied."

Long before official word came of the attack, parents learned of the bloodshed from students via text message and cell phone and thronged the streets around the school, anxiously awaiting word on their children.

"Everybody just started running," said 17-year-old Megan Hennessy, who was in class when she heard loud noises. "Everyone was running and screaming down the hallway."

The school had no metal detectors, but students said it had frequent security drills in case of a shooting.

Worried parents of high school students were told to go to an elementary school to pick up their children.

Five students, including Parmertor and Demetrius Hewlin, were taken to local hospitals.

Metro Health Medical Center later identified Parmertor as the lone fatality. But by then, a Twitter user had created an #RIPDemetrius hashtag mistakenly identifying Hewlin as the victim.

Two of the wounded were in critical condition, and another was in serious condition. The fourth student was at another hospital.

Chardon Superintendent Joe Bergant said all the district's schools were to be closed today.

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