‘Mom, I’m scared’, a text message from her son…

A male student opened fire at a suburban Indianapolis middle school yesterday morning, wounding another student and a teacher before being taken into custody, authorities said. The attack at Noblesville West Middle School happened around 9 am, police Chief Kevin Jowitt said at a news conference. He said investigators believe the suspect acted alone, but didn’t detail what happened or the severity of the injuries to the victims, who were taken to hospitals in Indianapolis. The identities of those involved weren’t immediately released. Indiana University Health spokeswoman Danielle Sirilla said the teacher was taken to IU Health Methodist Hospital and the wounded student was taken to Riley Hospital for Children. She didn’t know the seriousness of their injuries. After the attack, students were bussed to the Noblesville High School gym, where hundreds of parents and other family members arrived to retrieve them. Eighth-grader Chris Navarro said he was inside an auditorium when he counted hearing 16 gunshots about a minute before the bell rang for change in class. “The speaker came on and said we were on lockdown and people rushed in and we went to the back of the room. I went into this little room in the back with three other people,” he said calmly standing between his parents as they picked him up. Erica Higgins, who was among the worried parents who rushed to get their kids, said that she learned of the shooting from a relative who called her at home. “I just want to get my arms around my boy,” she said. Higgins said her son was shaken up but knew little about what happened. “I got a ‘Mom, I’m scared’ text message and other than that, it was ‘come get me at the high school,’” Higgins said. Gov. Eric Holcomb, who was returning from a trip to Europe yesterday, issued a statement saying he and other state leaders were getting updates about the situation and that 100 state police officers had been made available to work with local law enforcement.