The assailants fled after the shooting, outside the South Education Center in Richfield, Minn., a suburb of Minneapolis, the police said.
A shooting outside a school in a Minneapolis suburb left one student dead and another in critical condition on Tuesday, according to the authorities, who said that the assailants had fled and were still at large.
The gunfire erupted around noon near the entrance of the South Education Center in Richfield, Minn., a school that serves about 200 students with special and alternative-learning needs from prekindergarten to age 21 that is about 10 miles south of Minneapolis, the police said during a news conference.
It was not immediately clear what had precipitated the shooting or whether the assailants had targeted the students, who were found on the sidewalk and whose names were not released.
As a precaution, several other schools in the area were placed under a lockdown that was later lifted, Jay Henthorne, the police chief in Richfield, said during the news conference.
Sandy Lewandowski, the local schools superintendent, said during the news conference that it was difficult to comprehend what had prompted the violence.
“It is always difficult to understand an incident like this and it is especially important for anyone who needs help to reach out for that support,” she said.
Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota said earlier Tuesday afternoon on Twitter that he was being briefed on the shooting and that state law enforcement officials were closely monitoring the situation.
At Richfield Middle School, another school less than half-a-mile from where the shooting took place, some law enforcement officers “accidentally” swarmed that property in their initial response, Erica Barlow, the school’s principal, wrote in a message to parents on the school’s website.
“The officers had weapons drawn and were in bulletproof vests,” Ms. Barlow wrote. “It is unlikely that many students witnessed the event, as they were in class at the time. However, it is important that you are aware of the incident in the event that your child hears about it, as some children may be deeply impacted by this type of news.”
