Minnesota police arrest suspects in shooting outside school that killed 1 student killed, injured another

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Minnesota police have arrested two suspects in connection with a shooting outside a school Tuesday afternoon that left one student dead and another injured, police said. 

Richfield police officers, in collaboration with other law enforcement partners, executed two search warrants at two Minneapolis addresses shortly after 6 p.m., police said. 

Emergency crews stage outside the South Education Center in Richfield, Minn.  (FOX 9)

Officers arrested two suspects and recovered a handgun, police said. Officers are not looking for additional suspects but are continuing to process evidence related to the shooting. 

No further details were released. 

The shooting happened outside the South Education Center in Richfield, Minnesota, around 12:07 p.m., Chief Jay Henthorne said. 

Responding officers found two students who’d been shot on the sidewalk outside the school, Henthorne said, adding that the suspects had fled the scene. 

The students were rushed to the hospital. One of them died from his injuries, while the other remains hospitalized in critical condition, Henthorne said. 

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South Education Center and other area schools were placed on lockdown while officers conducted a search before determining there was no longer a threat.  

Investigators from Hennepin County Sheriff's Office process the scene of a shooting, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022, at the South Education Center, an alternative school in Richfield, Minn.  (Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune via AP)

Anyone with information on the matter is being asked to call 1-800-FBI (1-800-225-5324). 

District Superintendent Sandy Lewandowski said the school remains in constant contact with police as they continued their investigation. 

"We express our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the victims," Lewandowski said in a statement. "We are deeply saddened by this incident and will work to support the family, classmates and staff as much as we can." 

"Like everyone in Richfield and the region, we are still processing the tragic school shooting that took place just after noon today at the South Education Center," Richfield City Council said in a statement provided to Fox News. "These headlines appear far too often, and our hearts sink that such a tragedy has landed in our community." 

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Richfield is about a 20-minute drive south of Minneapolis. 

South Education Center has about 200 students, according to its website, which describes it as a school that offers special education programs and an alternative high school, with students as young as prekindergarten. It is part of District 287, which provides services to 11 school districts across the Minneapolis area as well as some students from other districts.

Nearby Richfield Middle School sent a message to parents telling them that police, with weapons drawn, and emergency medical workers had shown up at the school by mistake in response to an emergency call from South Education Center. The message said the call had nothing to do with the middle school.

Children are escorted from the building and board a bus Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022, at the South Education Center, an alternative school in Richfield, Minn. (Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune via AP)

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that police had been called to the school in September after a male student brought a gun in his backpack. Students alerted school staff. No one was hurt in that incident.

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Spokeswoman Rachel Hicks told the newspaper then that South had phased out metal detectors at school entrances. The district had also in recent years removed school resource officers and replaced them with student safety coaches to focus on building relationships and working on mental health issues, Hicks told the newspaper.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.