A 15-year-old student, now in custody, is alleged to have carried out the attack at the Marshall County High School in Benton, a small town in western Kentucky.

Two students — both also aged 15 — died of gunshot wounds, while 14 other people were shot and five suffered other injuries in the shooting, Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin told a news conference.

One of the students died at the scene and the other after being airlifted to a hospital, he said.

“The shooter was a student, a 15-year-old male” who was apprehended in a “non-violent” manner, said Bevin.

“That student will be charged with both murder and attempted murder.”

State police said the scene has been “secured,” and that a sheriff’s deputy had apprehended the shooter. 

Students ran from the scene after hearing shots, the Marshall County Tribune-Courier newspaper reported on its Facebook page, adding that the school was placed on lockdown as the incident unfolded.

Students later were bused to a neighbouring school where parents could retrieve them, it said.

“This is a tremendous tragedy and speaks to the heartbreak present in our communities,” Bevin said in an earlier statement. “It is unbelievable that this would happen in a small, close-knit community like Marshall County.” DM