Two girls who apparently fled from Lowellville’s school complex shortly after a boy opened fire in the cafeteria Thursday morning sit on the ground not far from the building. The school district notified parents of the incident through its all-call system. The shooter injured himself but no other students were harmed.

For video from today’s events, please CLICK HERE

LOWELLVILLE — Thursday’s shooting inside the village’s school complex that left the community reeling came just after an active shooter training that morning for just such an event.

For many parents in the Lowellville schools, knowledge of Thursday’s self-inflicted shooting by a student in the cafeteria began with an “all call” message from Superintendent Dr. Eugene Thomas: “There is a lockdown at the school at this time. Please do not come to the school. We will report to you as soon as possible.”

The incident occurred about 10:17 a.m., police said. Students said the shooting occurred in the cafeteria, which serves all grades but at separate times.

Only one student was injured in what appeared to be the self-inflicted incident. Officials were not aware of that student’s condition Thursday afternoon and would not confirm his or her grade level — though reports from students and parents suggested the shooting involved a seventh- or eighth-grade boy. The student was taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital.Coincidentally, the school just that morning had conducted an active shooter training exercise.

YOUNG WITNESSES

Two of the students who fled the cafeteria moments after the shooting said they witnessed the incident, which took place during lunch.

A high school student said a “seventh grade” boy fired a gun at the floor, then turned the gun on himself. She said the boy seemed to be seriously injured and was on the floor.

Another male student described the shooter as his friend.

“We were eating lunch and he just went to the corner of the lunchroom and he shot up into the air, and he reloaded and just shot himself,” he said. The boy then fell to the ground and was bleeding.

The friend said he first wondered if the gun was real.

“I don’t know if he just popped his eardrum because of the noise, but he was bleeding,” the boy said.

Officials on Thursday declined to say how many students and staff were in the cafeteria at the time of the shooting.

The school complex, located at 52 Rocket Place, housed 467 students last school year.

PARENTS GATHER

A second all-call message sent out to parents from the school district advised that a shooting had occurred, that it was isolated to one student and that the rest of the students were safe.

This time, the superintendent advised parents and guardians it was OK to come to the football field at the K-12 complex to pick up their children.

For the next hour, anxious family members streamed onto the campus and onto the football field, where they waited until some of the older students first started to be escorted onto the field where they were greeted with long tearful embraces.

Students in the older grades emerged — about 15 in the first group, more in the second group, then more than 50. The younger children exited last.

After all students had been dismissed, the superintendent held a meeting with staff on the same end of the football field where the parents had waited for their children a short time earlier.

He could be heard telling staff members, “We’ll get through this together,” and “We’re going to have a police presence 24/7.”

NEWS CONFERENCE

During a subsequent news conference held Thursday afternoon, Superintendent Thomas and Lowellville police Chief Rick Alli, who was working as the school resource officer inside the building when the shooting occurred, assured the community that all other students and staff were safe and the campus was secure.

Students and staff had conducted an ALICE training, or active shooter training, earlier in the day, Alli confirmed. When the incident occurred, students and staff immediately went into lockdown as practiced, Thomas said.

“Quite frankly, you can never prepare for a situation to occur like this in a community like Lowellville, as close-knit as we are,” he added.

Alli said he was “less than 65 feet away” when the shooting happened, and he responded in less than a minute, followed quickly by other officers from Lowellville, the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office and neighboring communities. Within about three minutes, there were “enough officers here to hold off the Third Army,” he said.

An EMT at the school also responded almost immediately and administered first aid to the injured student.

Officials did not say whether any camera in the school captured video of the incident.

Boardman police Chief Todd Werth later said he and several of his officers were part of the large law enforcement presence at the shooting scene, helping to get the children out. Werth said his office was in charge of dispatching officers in Mahoning County to the scene in Lowellville.

At 10:30 a.m., Trumbull County 911 also dispatched police units from Liberty, Howland, Warren and the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office as part of mutual aid. As soon as the scene was secured, the Trumbull County units were released.

PARENTS RELIEVED

When parents and guardians finally were walking back to their cars with their kids, the biggest feeling was relief.

Michelle Mangrine said she was “nervous, scared, emotional. I’m glad to see all of the kids are safe.” Mangrine said she has a child in the school system as she walked away from the complex with a group of people.

Felicia Burkholder, who has a son in the fourth grade, said when she got Thomas’ first all call, she thought it was a “drill” because she thought the district had planned some sort of training.

“But then I heard the kids screaming,” she said. She lives close enough to the complex that when students fled the cafeteria right after the gunfire, she could hear them up the street from her house, she said.

“It’s a blessing no one else got shot, and hopefully he will be OK too,” one woman said of the shooter as she and her husband walked a youngster out of the complex. She was not the youngster’s mother, she said, and did not want to give her name.

As he walked from the school with his daughter, Chris Weinreber said he was relieved.

“I’m just glad I got mine,” he said. “We’re going home.”

Another woman walking with two boys down the sidewalk was crying as she put her arm around the smaller boy and told him: “I’m sorry you had to go through this.”

As one woman left the complex she was asked about her emotions. “Just like everybody else — nervous, scared, relieved” she said, not giving her name.

Many more parents walking from the school complex after picking up their children declined to talk.

Staff writer Guy Vogrin contributed to this report.

Lowellville cancellations

• Classes are canceled today.

• All after-school activities, including sporting events and prom, are canceled.

• Prom and sports activities are expected to be rescheduled.

Source: Lowellville schools website