Seventh Grader Shoots Himself at Ohio Middle School

After the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that claimed 17 lives, gun violence continues across America's schools. Marjory Stoneman Douglas marked the 18th school shooting in the nation since the beginning of the year, and on Tuesday, an Ohio seventh grader shot himself in a school bathroom.

The incident took place at approximately 7:50 am, just before the start of the school day at Jackson Memorial Middle School in the men’s restroom. The student is male. According to recent reports, his immediate condition is unknown; he was taken to the hospital by police. As per the school district, Jackson Township middle and high schools have been put on lockdown and extracurricular activities have been canceled for the duration of the day. Jackson Memorial Middle School is the largest middle school in Stark County, with about 1,400 students.

Parents have been given information how to pick up their children from the school. A few hundred parents started to gather on the east side of Jackson Middle School in preparation to be reunited with their children. An alert message was sent out to parents by Superintendent Chris DiLoreto, confirming the shooting incident. Students were being released alphabetically by grade to parents. Jackson Police Chief Mark Brink attempted to comfort parents at a press conference, saying “We’ve got to look into how that happened and from that put a plan together and make sure we have a presence here especially going forward.”