UPDATED: School shooter in Maryland dead after confrontation with resource officer (VIDEO)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TrhxxvlvKM]

A student accused of gunning down two fellow classmates just before 8 a.m. Tuesday at a high school in southern Maryland has died, according to local authorities.

St. Mary’s County Sheriff Tim Cameron said hospital officials at Charles Regional Medical Center pronounced the accused gunman, 17-year-old Austin Wyatt Rollins, dead at approximately 10:41 a.m. Tuesday.

Two victims — a 14-year-old male and a 16-year-old female — were transported to Medstar St. Mary’s Hospital and Prince George’s Hospital Center, respectively. The female victim remains in the intensive care unit with life-threatening injuries, Cameron said.

Rollins, armed with a handgun, opened fire at 7:55 a.m. in Hallway F at Great Mills High School in Great Mills, Maryland, about 68 miles southeast of Washington, D.C. Cameron said evidence suggests a prior relationship existed between the female victim and the shooter.

Cameron said School Resource Officer Deputy Blaine Gaskill exchanged gunfire with Rollins in the hallway. It’s unclear whether the officer’s bullet struck the fatal blow, he said.

“Our school resource officer was alerted to the event. He pursued the shooter, engaged the shooter, fired a round at the shooter,” Cameron said. “The shooter fired a round as well. In the hours and days to come, we’ll be able to determine if our school resource officer’s round struck the shooter.”

The school went into lockdown Tuesday after the reported shooting. St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Department confirmed the incident around 9 a.m. via social media.

The school district evacuated more than 1,400 students Leonardtown High School for reunification with their parents.

“What we had this morning is truly our worst fear,” said Dr. James Scott Smith, superintendent of St. Mary’s County Public School System. “There’s no way around it.”

Smith’s anguish and frustration was echoed by comments from Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who used the afternoon press conference as a platform to push for stricter gun regulations at the state level.

“It’s tragic. Our hearts are broken. We are extremely saddened,” he said. “No parent should ever have to worry about when they send their kids off in the morning to school whether they are going to come home or not. We need more than prayers. We’ve got to take action.”

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