Armed 15-year-old US student shoots himself after tense hostage situation

WASHINGTON - An armed 15-year-old US school student has shot himself after police stormed into the classroom at the end of a tense hostage situation in Wisconsin.

The episode began after 3 p.m. on Monday, when the student entered a classroom at Marinette High School carrying a handgun, Police Chief Jeff Skorik said.

He held 23 students and a teacher hostage for hours before the hostages were freed and the gunman was hospitalized from a self-inflicted wound.

All of the hostages were released unharmed after about five hours.

The condition of the gunman was not immediately known, and the police are yet to identify a motive behind the standoff, Fox News reports.

Earlier, scores of law enforcement officials and other state authorities from all over Wisconsin had gathered near the school, which was cordoned off.

Police negotiators were in communication by phone with the female teacher inside the classroom, who confirmed to them that she and the students were being held hostage at gunpoint.

The student first released five hostages around 9 p.m., the rest were released a short time later, Skorik said.

He later fired one shot at himself, causing unidentified injuries.

Skorik said that police found two guns in the classroom, a 22-caliber and a 9mm semiautomatics.

The Chief added that the armed student had made no demands during the standoff and provided no sense of why he had taken hostages. (ANI)