Washington D.C. [USA], May 18 (ANI): At least eight people were shot dead in Santa Fe High School in an early morning shootout in the southeastern Texas city of Santa Fe on Friday.

Assistant principal Cris Richardson told CNN that the gunman has been arrested.

A second person has been detained as well. At least, one police officer was also injured in the shooting, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said on Twitter.

Witnesses described the ordeal where students were seen running from the school as they heard gunshots. They also described hearing an alarm at the school, though the sequence of events was still unclear, CNN reported.

A witness told CNN affiliate KTRK that an armed person walked into an art class of the Santa Fe High School and started firing indiscriminately. The witness added that she saw a girl shot in the leg.

The death toll is likely to rise as multiple deaths have been reported due to the shooting incident, two law enforcement sources told CNN.

A Galveston hospital spokesperson, Raul Reyes did not give details about how many people were injured.

The Friday's shooting incident was the third at a US school in the last eight days.

On Wednesday, an Illinois school resource officer shot and wounded a former student who fired a weapon near a graduation rehearsal at Dixon High School. The suspected gunman was later arrested and faces three charges of "aggravated discharge of a firearm."

Last Friday, a 14-year-old boy living in Palmdale in California, went to Highland High, his former school, and began shooting indiscriminately with a semiautomatic rifle shortly before classes began, injuring a person. The teenager was later arrested and was taken into custody. He is accused of attempted murder.

On February 14, at least 17 people - children and adults - were killed in a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Following this, on March 24, thousands of people, primarily students across the US held a "March for Our Lives" rally pressing for stricter gun control measures in the country after the attack. (ANI)

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