Police: Student disarmed gunman

Associated Press

SEATTLE

A lone gunman armed with a shotgun opened fire Thursday in a building at a small Seattle university, fatally wounding one person and injuring three others before a student subdued him with pepper spray as he tried to reload, Seattle police said.

A student building monitor at Seattle Pacific University disarmed the gunman, and several other students jumped on top of him and pinned him down until police arrived at the Otto Miller building, police said.

A 19-year-old man died at the hospital, and a critically injured 20-year-old woman was taken to surgery, Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman Susan Gregg said. A 24-year-old man and a 22-year-old man were in satisfactory condition. None of the victims was immediately identified.

Police said they had arrested one man. None of the victims at the hospital was the arrested man, Gregg said.

The afternoon shooting came a week before the end of the school year, and the situation was particularly tense when police initially reported that they were searching for a second suspect. They later said no one else was involved.

The university locked down its campus for several hours, and it alerted students and staff to stay inside. Some students were taking finals in the same building as the shooter.

The school canceled classes Thursday evening, and had a prayer service at the First Free Methodist Church on campus.