All four elementary schools in the district were closed and all extracurricular activities were canceled for the day. The student shot himself in a bathroom. No other students were hurt. It was not known if the shooting Tuesday morning was intentional. Distraction devices generally used to produce smoke or a loud bang were found in his backpack. The devices were not explosives.
The student, who was not identified, was taken to a hospital and his condition was not known. Police are investigating how the student obtained the gun and how he brought it into the building. Parents rushed to Jackson Middle School, near Massillon, to pick up their children. The school does not have metal detectors. The incident comes days after 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz allegedly killed 17 people and injured numerous others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. In the United States, students are found with guns at schools at a rate of just over one per day, according to nonprofit gun news site The Trace.
