One student was shot and killed, and another severely wounded outside a school Tuesday afternoon in Richfield, police said.
The shooting happened just after noon on the sidewalk outside the South Education Center, an alternative school in the Intermediate District 287 that serves students from Pre-K to age 21.
Richfield Police Chief Jay Henthorne said officers arrived to the school in the 7400 block of S. Penn Avenue to discover the two wounded students on the sidewalk outside. The suspects had fled the scene by then, he said.
Medical personnel transported the students to Hennepin County Medical Center by ambulance. One of them died there, the chief said.
“This is a tragic day in the city of Richfield,” Henthorne said at a short press briefing about 2 1⁄2 hours after the shooting. “Our … hearts and prayers and thoughts go out to District 287 students, their families and their community.”
District 287 Superintendent Sandra Lewandowski followed the chief and said, “It is with an exceedingly heavy heart that we learned earlier today there were shots fired outside of the South Education Center near the front entrance.”
Lewandowski went on to say that “we expressed our deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims.”
She called the shooting “a terrible tragedy and loss. We are deeply saddened and will do everything we can to … support the families, classmates and staff in whatever way possible. There are no words to describe the bravery exhibited by our staff and local authorities today. No one should every have to respond to a tragedy like this.”
In a tweet, Gov. Tim Walz said, “I’m currently being briefed on the situation unfolding in Richfield. Our Department of Public Safety is in touch with local law enforcement, and we are monitoring the situation closely.”
At 1:30 p.m. buses arrived to pick up students from Blessed Trinity Catholic School.
In September, a student brought a gun to the same school in his backpack. The student did made not threats to harm anyone, and “everything was handled swiftly,” School District spokeswoman Rachel Hicks said at the time.
Hicks added that South Education Center, which serves 11 cities in the west metro and is part of Intermediate District 287, phased out metal detectors, and they are no longer at school entrances. Also, the district in recent years removed all school resource officers and replaced them with student safety coaches to focus on building relationships and working on mental health issues.
Law enforcement agencies from across the metro are quickly staged Tuesday outside of St. Richard’s Catholic Church, while the parking lot across from the education center is surrounded with crime scene tape. Agencies on scene include the Hennepin County sheriff, and police from Eden Prairie, Richfield, Edina and Minnetonka, along with a Metropolitan Airports Commission Mobile Command Center.
Officials with the Richfield School District were also reaching out to parents Tuesday.
Around noon, local police and emergency medical personnel “accidentally” arrived at nearby Richfield Middle School, Principal Erica Barlow wrote in a note to families. Officers clad in bullet-proof vests reportedly arrived with their guns drawn, Barlow wrote, but left “As soon as the mistake was realized.”
“It is unlikely that many students witnessed the event, as they were in class at the time. However, it is important that you are aware of the incident in the event that your child hears about it, as some children may be deeply impacted by this type of news,” Barlow wrote.
Staff writers Eder Campuzano and Kim Hyatt contributed to this report.
Correction:
A previous version of this article incorrectly identified the student who was killed as a middle schooler. The grade has not been confirmed.