The Associated Press
Rebecca McKinsey
For about 70 Ohio University students, the news about an early-morning shooting at Chardon High School was personal.
Sophomore Harold Bon, who graduated from Chardon High School in 2010, said the news of the shooting was a shock.
"No one expects something like this to happen, especially at a small school like Chardon," Bon said.
There were four students injured in the shooting, and a fifth, Daniel Parmertor, died in the hospital after the shooting, officials said, according to WKYC.
The shooter was confirmed as student T.J. Lane, according to The Plain Dealer.
The OU Dean of Students Office emailed the approximately 70 current OU students who are Chardon High School alumni soon after the shooting was reported.
"I wanted to reach out to you and let you know that those of us in the Office of the Dean of Students are thinking of you and your community at home," Dean of Students Ryan Lombardi said in the email.
A student who witnessed the deadly Ohio school shooting says it appeared the gunman was targeting a group of students sitting at a cafeteria table.
Freshman Danny Komertz says he was just about to leave for his first-period health class Monday when he heard a loud popping sound and then saw the gunman open fire.
He says one student who authorities say was killed was trying to get under a table to protect himself and shield his face.
Komertz says the shooter was known as an outcast who had apparently been bullied.
The 15-year-old Komertz says that there were at least 100 students in the cafeteria at the time and that most fled immediately as shots were fired.
A gunman opened fire inside a high school cafeteria at the start of the school day Monday, killing one student and wounding four others, authorities said. A suspect - believed to be a student - was arrested a short distance away.
The suspect was taken into custody near his car a half-mile from the suburban Cleveland school, the FBI said.
FBI agent Scott Wilson would not comment on a possible motive for the attack.
Panicked students screamed and ran through the halls when gunfire broke out around 7:30 a.m. at 1,100-student Chardon High School.
Heather Ziska, 17, said she was in the cafeteria when she and other students heard popping noises in the hall. She said she saw a boy she recognized as a fellow student come into the cafeteria and start shooting.
She said she and several others immediately ran outside, while other friends ran into a middle school and others locked themselves in a teachers' lounge.
"Everybody just started running," said 17-year-old Megan Hennessy, who was in class when she heard loud noises. "Everyone was running and screaming down the hallway."
Five students were taken to Cleveland-area hospitals, officials said. One student later died, Police Chief Timothy McKenna said. The suspect is a juvenile who was not immediately charged. His name was not released.
The condition of the wounded students was not disclosed.
Students at the high school and the middle school had already started their day when the shooting happened, but bus runs for elementary school children were stopped. All classes in the district were canceled.
Parents of high school students were told to go to an elementary school to pick up their children. Anxious parents could be seen escorting children away.
Chardon, a town of about 5,100 people, is about 30 miles east of Cleveland.
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AP writers Dan Sewell in Cincinnati and Andrew Welsh-Huggins in Columbus contributed to this report.
