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7th-grade student who shot self at Jackson middle school has died from injuries

Jackson Local Schools on lockdown
Posted at 8:38 AM, Feb 20, 2018
and last updated 2018-02-21 17:07:12-05

The 13-year-old student who shot himself in a boy's restroom at Jackson Memorial Middle School Tuesday has died from his injuries. 

Officials will hold a news conference at 4:30 p.m. WATCH LIVE HERE.

Authorities have not said whether the boy shot himself on purpose or the gun went off accidentally. 

News 5 is not identifying the student. 

911 call

School officials called 911 after finding the student with a gunshot wound in the bathroom.

The caller tells the operator, "I have a student who shot himself in the bathroom. He has a strong pulse but I need an ambulance."

Evidence

Jackson Township police say investigators went through the home where the seventh-grade boy who shot himself lives and took evidence from the house. 

Chief Mark Brink confirmed that ammunition was found in the student's backpack, but would not give further details.

School to resume Wednesday

Jackson Local Schools will be open Wednesday, according to the district's Facebook page. "Our plan is to open all of our school buildings tomorrow," the post said. "Our goal is to maintain the normalcy of the school day. Please be sensitive to misinformation circulating through social media."

A counseling and mental health team will be available in all school buildings. There will also be additional law enforcement personnel present in all school buildings.

"Distractionary-type" device

Police said in a news conference Tuesday afternoon that investigators found "distractionary-type" devices in the boy's backpack.

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Police said the devices were not explosives, and they didn't find any devices that "would have done harm to others." 

Authorities defined "distractionary-type" devices as something that would grab a person's attention by creating smoke or a loud noise.

Sources tell News 5 ammo was also found in the backpack. 

Authorities said they still don't know what the boy's intentions were. 

RELATED: Father of Jackson Township student says he put body armor in son's book bag over the weekend

Dismissal

Jackson Township middle school and high school students were dismissed after the shooting. 

The following message was posted on Jackson Local Schools website:

All four elementary schools in the district remained closed Tuesday. 

Parents and other family members gathered outside the school as they waited anxiously for their children.

Parents react

Gina Larkins, who has a daughter in 8th-grade at the Jackson Memorial Middle School, said she was on her way to drop off her daughter who's in 3rd grade when she saw police activity around the middle school.

“I received a phone call from the superintendent that the middle school and high school was on lockdown and all the elementary schools would be closed. I just pulled in waiting to hear further information," said Larkins.

Parents in the area were already on edge this week following the horrific mass shooting at a Florida school.

"I just want to get my daughter and hug her and hold her. I thought it would never happen here but obviously, that is not the case," said Larkins, who was emotional at the thought of what could've happened.

Body armor in book bag

One father whose child goes to the school said he put a piece of armor in his 8th-grade son's backpack over the weekend, in response to the school shooting in Florida.

That father, Don Casey, said a friend who is in support of gun control posted something on Facebook about a man who put regular textbooks in a bag and shot it with a .45, a 9 mm and an assault rifle.

"The handguns didn't go through the first two textbooks. They barely made it through one. I had repainted the shotstop so they gave us this body armor and I put that in my son's book bag."

Watch that interview here.

Student describes moments of uncertainty 

The 12-year-old heard teachers screaming to get inside the classroom and the next thing she knew, she was hiding and crouching down with her fellow peers near the teacher's desk.

"I dropped everything. My phone, my chrome book, my book bag and me and my friends ran into the classroom and then we all hid. We were probably there for about 20 minutes," she said.

Watch that interview here.