One dead, three wounded in northwest US school shooting

Los Angeles : A student shot and killed another student and wounded three others Wednesday at a high school in the northwestern state of Washington before being disarmed, authorities said.

The shooting took place at Freeman High School in Spokane County, Washington state, 285 miles (460 kilometers) from Seattle, where witnesses described a scene of terror as the heavily armed shooter stalked the halls.

County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich told reporters the shooter was a student who was armed with more than one weapon, reportedly a rifle and a handgun.

"He proceeded to take his weapons out. At that point he attempted to fire one weapon and jammed," the sheriff said.

"He went to his next weapon and a student walked up to him, engaged him, and that student was shot. That student did not survive," he said.

"He then fired more shoots around down the hallway, striking three more students and those students are in the hospital," he said.

Knezovich said the shooter was finally disabled by "a member of the Freeman community," before police arrived on the scene.

The Spokesman-Review, a local news site, said the student was tackled by a school custodian.