Update 2: Witness Says Sparks Middle School Shooter Wore School Uniform

HERO: Teacher Michael Landsberry
died while protecting students

October 21, 2013 - A teen aged gunman shot and killed a math teacher, wounded two 12-year old male students at Sparks Middle School in Nevada around 7:15 this morning. The "gunman," a 12-year old 7th grader at the school, then fatally shot himself with his 9-millimeter Ruger seminautomatic handgun.

Update: The teacher killed in the attack was Michael Landsberry, 45, a former US Marine and member of the Nevada Air National Guard. He is survived by his wife and two step-daughters. More...

Update, Oct. 25: The 12-year old shooter has been identified as Jose Reyes. Tthe city of Sparks released the 12-year-old boy’s name on Thursday afternoon (Oct. 24). "The Reno Gazette-Journal had requested the name Tuesday after Sparks police said in a news conference they would not release it," reports the Reno Gazette-Journal. "The RGJ editorial board called on Sparks to release the name, arguing that Sparks police needed to follow the state’s public records laws."

The two wounded students were taken to Renown Regional Medical Center in critical condition. One is out of surgery and the other is doing well, reports Associated Press.

A witness to the Sparks Middle School shooting, 13-year old Kyle Nucum, describes the shooting in this video:

“We heard a pop, like a loud pop, and everybody was screaming and the teacher came to investigate,” Nucum told RGJ Media this morning. “I thought it was a firecracker at first, but the student was pointing a gun at the teacher after the teacher told him to put it down, and the student fired a shot at the teacher and the teacher fell and everybody ran away. And we ran across the field to get somewhere safe and while we were running we heard about four or five more shots and we just got somewhere safe. This lady let us into her house.”

Another student who saw the shooting said, “I heard him saying, ‘Why you people making fun of me, why you laughing at me.’” More at RGJ.com...

Classes at Spark Middle School have been cancelled for the rest of the week. Sparks is located just east of Reno (see map).

Also See:

• Timeline for Sparks Middle School shooting  - Reno Gazette-Journal
• Sparks students say school shooter may have been bullied LA Times
• Shooting at middle school in Sparks, Nev.: Slain teacher identified LA Times
• Gang Members Arrested For Beating 12-year-old Boy - KTVN
• How an Armed Assistant Principal Stopped a School Shooter - Chicago News Bench