Houston school employee shot by former student, police say

Authorities say a former student of a Houston charter school shot and wounded a school employee on campus before quickly surrendering to police

Houston School-Shooting (© 2021 Mark Mulligan / Houston Chronicle)

A former student of a Houston charter school shot and wounded a school employee on campus Friday morning before quickly surrendering to police, authorities said.

The shooting happened at about 11:45 a.m. at YES Prep Southwest Secondary, a charter school that serves students in sixth through 12th grades. Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said the man shot through the school's door, then shot the employee in the back.

The employee was in serious condition at a hospital, Finner said. No students were hurt, the school said in a statement.

Police did not release the name of the wounded employee or the shooter but said they were able to quickly identify him because he was a former student. Police also did not release a motive, but Finner said authorities were investigating whether there were past interactions between the shooter and wounded man.

A line of students in masks streamed out of the school just before 1 p.m., holding their hands up to show officers they were not carrying a weapon. Multiple students told reporters that they saw blood while leaving the building.

“You don’t want anything like this to happen,” Finner said, “but I want to commend those students. Every student I’ve seen coming out, they were calm. The administrators, the teachers, outstanding job. I want to commend them ... they train for it.”