Oklahoma Teenage Shooter Used Dad's Gun, Bullets

The Oklahoma teenager who opened fire on his classmates on Monday used a semi-automtic pistol and ammunition taken from his father’s wardrobe.

The boy took the nine millimetre pistol and a 15 shot clip from the closet – apparently without the knowledge of his parents – and opened fire randomly on his classmates before school started for the day.

The shooting left three boys and a girl, aged 12 and 13, wounded and hospitalised but not in any danger of their lives. The boy fired all 15 rounds and was then held by a teacher until police arrived.

"I would say we were very blessed. We didn't have students fatally wounded. Our staff and parents and community are very aware of that," said Linda Clinkenbeard, the assistant superintendent of Fort Gibson Public Schools.

Counsellors are now talking to all students at the school and police patrol the boundaries.

Residents in Fort Gibson said they knew the alleged shooter as a nice normal boy who gave no signs of the impending violence.

"He doesn't look the part. It's amazing anyone would do this, but especially a small child," said Lt. Tim Brown of the Muskogee County sheriff's department. Brown said he did not know the boy but had observed him in the juvenile detention facility. "He's very quiet, subdued. He had very little to say and kept to himself," Brown said.

The boy has been ordered held at an initial court hearing without bond and faces charges of shooting with intent to kill.

The firearm was legally purchased six years ago from a registered local gun store.

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