Glenn Hartong / Cincinnati Enquirer via AP

Parents and other family members cross under a police line to check on their children, on April 29, at LaSalle High School in Cincinnati, where a high school student pulled out a gun and shot himself in a classroom on Monday.

An Ohio student was in critical condition after shooting himself in an apparent suicide attempt that took place during a class Monday at an all-male Catholic high school in Cincinnati, police said.

The student, whose name has not been released at the request of the parents, pulled out a semi-automatic handgun shortly after 9 a.m. on Monday during an honors-level leadership class at La Salle High School, according to authorities.  

Then, in the same room as 22 other students, he tried to end his life, police said.

The school was immediately placed on lock down and no other students were injured.

The youth was taken to a nearby hospital where the student is "fighting for his life," Greg Tankersley, La Salle's director of community development, told reporters.

Tankersley said the teen is an honors student who has completed more than 80 hours of community service and is working to become an Eagle Scout. 

Following the incident, the family released a statement:  “We thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers. We ask that the media please respect our privacy at this time so we can do what we need to do for our son and our family. We also ask that friends of our son and family please refrain from Facebook and Twitter comments. We appreciate the heroic efforts of UC Medical Center staff as they care for our son.”

Authorities have thus far not commented on how the student brought the gun into a classroom. Late Monday police swept the school with K-9 units as a precaution.

Distressed 911 calls from students reveal the chaos and panic that ensued following the single gun shot. Many in the room were unaware at the time that it was a suicide attempt and thought it could be an active shooter.

"We're at La Salle High School and there is a guy with a gun," one student frantically told the Hamilton County 911 dispatcher.
Groups of students huddled together throughout the high school as authorities arrived. 

School officials praised Green Township Police and the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office for quickly responding and securing the scene. After the scene was deemed secure, students who had gathered in the gym were allowed to leave with parents. Counselors were also on hand to speak with the kids.

Classes will resume Tuesday with an all-school prayer service at LaSalle, officials said.

"We think it's important to have our young men back in the building so we can talk about it with them and help them deal with this situation," said Tankersley.

Mike Austreng / Cold Spring Record via AP

Cold Spring Police Chief Phil Jones, left, and Rocori School District Superintendent Scott Staska hold bulletproof white boards in Cold Spring, Minn., on April 22. Rocori schools are among the first in the nation to acquire the kevlar whiteboards which can be flipped quickly to provide some protection for teachers and students in the event of a shooting.

COLD SPRING, Minn. — A Minnesota school district where two students were killed in a 2003 shooting unveiled a new device Tuesday aimed at adding a last-ditch layer of safety for teachers and students: bulletproof whiteboards.

The Rocori School District has acquired nearly 200 of the whiteboards, made of a material touted by its manufacturer as stronger than that in police-issue bulletproof vests. The 18-by-20-inch whiteboards can be used by teachers for instruction and used as a shield in an emergency.

Police Chief Phil Jones demonstrated the whiteboards Tuesday in a school gym by leveling a karate kick at one, whacking it with a police baton and stabbing it with a knife — all with no apparent effect.

Jones didn't fire his gun at the whiteboard, saying it would have been unsafe and inappropriate at the school. But he said he'd tested it earlier by firing several rounds at it.

"We put this board to the test, and quite frankly, that was the day I became a believer," Jones said.

The manufacturer, Maryland-based Hardwire LLC, has been working on armor protection devices for military vehicles and personnel for years. The company turned its attention to school security after the Connecticut elementary school shootings in December that killed 20 children and six educators.

Company officials said the whiteboards are already in schools in North Dakota and Maryland, and are being rolled out in Pennsylvania and California. Jones said Rocori schools are the first to use them in Minnesota.

At least one security expert questioned whether the boards would be effective. Bill Nesbitt, president of school security consulting firm Security Management Services International, wasn't familiar with the whiteboards but said his initial reaction was that they may provide a false sense of security. The prudent thing to do would be to retreat from danger rather than hide behind a whiteboard, he said.

Jones and Scott Staska, the Rocori superintendent, noted that the boards are a supplement to a broad plan that includes lockdown drills and school resource officers.

In 2003, a 15-year-old boy brought a gun to Rocori High School and fatally shot 14-year-old Seth Bartell and 17-year-old Aaron Rollins. The gunman, who is serving a life sentence, was convinced by a teacher to put the gun down.Rollins' father, Tom Rollins, said he doesn't believe the whiteboards would have saved Aaron or Seth. But he said it's a good idea, adding that if the teen gunman had decided to keep shooting, such a board may have helped other students.

"He still had seven more shells in his gun, so who knows what would've happened," Rollins said.

A Virginia judge convicted a high school student accused in a sex-tape scandal on Thursday.

The teen was accused of recording girls while he and his friends had sex with them.

Two other boys already pleaded guilty to unlawful filming, but attorneys for the third boy fought the charges.

He and his two best friends allegedly recorded several sex tapes with girls their age. The defense argued the case is about expectations of privacy, claiming the girls caught on camera knew there was a chance they could be recorded.

One of the explicit videos was recorded in an elementary school parking lot, and the 17-year-old girl involved took the stand. She was asked if she knew a camera was present. She broke down crying as she explained that she made it clear she did not want to be recorded.

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Another girl testified that in a separate incident she chased a boy with an iPhone into a bathroom, and the boy tried to convince her he hadn’t been recording.

The two teens who pleaded guilty also took the stand against their friend, who is a student at West Springfield High School in Springfield, Va.

The Fairfax County judge convicted the boy of two felony counts of unlawful filming, but acquitted him of distribution of child pornography and another charge.

The Indiana Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously upheld the nation's broadest school voucher program, which gives poor and middle-class families public funds to help pay private school tuition.

Opponents, including the state teachers' union, had sued to block the program on grounds that nearly all the voucher money has been directed to religious schools.

Voucher systems have drawn criticism across the United States from critics who say they drain money from public schools and subsidize overtly religious education. Supporters say they offer families greater choice on where to educate their children.

In a 5-0 vote, the Indiana justices said that it did not matter that funds had been directed to religious schools, so long as parents - and not the state - decide where to use the tuition vouchers.

"Whether the Indiana program is wise educational or public policy is not a consideration," Chief Justice Brent Dickson wrote. The program is constitutional, he wrote, because the public funds "do not directly benefit religious schools but rather directly benefit lower-income families with school children."

The U.S. Supreme Court used similar reasoning in a 2002 ruling upholding a voucher program in Cleveland. Since then, voucher programs have been challenged in state, rather than federal, court. But opponents have found it an uphill climb.

Just last month, a state appeals court in Colorado upheld a voucher program that helped parents in one of the wealthiest U.S. counties pay private school tuition. The case is on appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court. Another closely-watched voucher case is pending in the Louisiana Supreme Court; a ruling is expected soon.

The Indiana voucher program is considered the broadest in the United States because it is not limited to low-income students or those attending failing schools - and because it is available to children statewide. A family of four with a household income of $64,000 a year is eligible for vouchers worth up to $4,500 per child.

Though more than half a million students in Indiana are eligible for the vouchers, just 9,000 enrolled this school year. Most are from urban communities with struggling public schools, but a sizeable slice live in rural and suburban neighborhoods as well.

Republican Governor Mike Pence has pushed to expand the program by opening eligibility to special-needs students and children in military families if their household income is as high as $85,000 for a family of four.

The Indiana legislature is also considering a bill that would give vouchers to kindergarten students who meet the income guidelines. The program currently requires students to spend a full year in public schools before they are eligible for a voucher.

Nationwide, vouchers are used by more than 100,000 students in a dozen states, including Florida, Georgia, Ohio and Wisconsin. Several other states use tax credits or education savings accounts to help families pay private school tuition.

Public school advocates have complained that the vouchers subsidize parochial schools that use an explicitly faith-based curriculum.

"Just because the Indiana Supreme Court said it's OK by our constitution doesn't mean this is a good idea," said Teresa Meredith, vice president of the Indiana State Teachers Association and a plaintiff in the case. "I don't believe it's a wise use of public money. It's still, at the end of the day, funding religious instruction" with tax dollars.

Supporters of the voucher program predicted that the ruling would clear the way for a rapid expansion of vouchers in Indiana and nationwide.

"Kids and parents won today," said Robert Enlow, president of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, which supports voucher programs nationally. "Other states should look at this victory and see that the education establishment's ability to obstruct families' freedom to choose is waning."

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Unified School District has agreed to a multimillion-dollar settlement with 58 current and former students at a school where an ex-teacher was accused of taking bondage-style photos of pupils, a lawyer for the district said on Tuesday.

The settlement would resolve nearly half of the 129 claims filed by former students of Miramonte Elementary School, attorney David Holmquist said.

Holmquist, who represents the school district, declined to disclose the amount of the settlement, which must be approved by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, but said it totaled millions of dollars.

"When we set up this early resolution process back last summer, the goals were to promote healing in the community and provide for the emotional health needs of the students into the future," Holmquist said. "It's in everybody's best interest, but primarily the students'."

The Los Angeles Times reported on its website that the district would pay a total of $30 million to settle the claims, with each student receiving about $470,000.

Allegations of abuse at Miramonte last year touched off protests by infuriated parents and prompted Los Angeles County school officials to temporarily replace the entire staff at Miramonte during an exhaustive investigation.

Mark Berndt, the first of two former Miramonte teachers accused of molesting students there, made headlines when he was charged in January 2012 with 23 counts of lewd acts on children, all aged 10 and younger.

Berndt is accused of taking bondage-style photos of students, some with large, live "Madagascar-type cockroaches" on their faces. In others, students were seen with spoons of semen held to their faces, according to authorities. He has pleaded not guilty.

The investigation began after a company that does photo processing turned over pictures to detectives. Authorities said a search turned up hundreds more photos.

Berndt, who taught at Miramonte for more than 30 years, was fired by the school district in early 2011, shortly after the investigation began. He could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted.

In February 2012, then-Miramonte teacher Martin Springer was charged with three counts of lewd acts on a child. Springer also pleaded not guilty.

Holmquist said dozens of claims filed by parents or guardians were not part of the settlement agreement, but that the district was seeking to resolve the remaining cases.

A Pennsylvania high school senior faces assault charges after he allegedly broke a school nurse’s hip while in a drunken rage.

Since Wednesday was an exam day, seniors were allowed to arrive late at Pennsville Memorial High School, Salem County.

Pennsville Township Police told NBC10’s Chris Cato that the 17-year-old and his friend Manpreet Singh, 18, used the opportunity to get drunk.

The 17-year-old, who wasn’t identified because he is a minor, began to act belligerent in class.

"They took him from the classroom and took him to the principal's office," said police Lt. A.J. Cummings.

Sources told Cato that when the boy was confronted with a Breathalyzer test that he went nuts and shoved the principal. He then allegedly burst out the office door, knocking down school nurse Marilyn English.

English, 68, suffered a broken hip and remained in South Jersey Healthcare Elmer Hospital Friday night.

"I'm doing as well as can be expected for the type of injury it is," English said by phone.

She told Cato that the boy never stopped. Police sources said he kept going right out of the building. Police said they later picked him up around 11:20 a.m. but not before he kicked an officer.

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The 17-year-old faces three assault charges, disorderly conduct and alcohol charges while Singh, who police say supplied the alcohol, faces an alcohol charge.

The Pennsville School District had no comment on what discipline both teens could face.

Neither teens' parents wanted to talk to NBC10. The minor’s mother slammed the door on Cato and Singh’s mother had no comment.

As for the school nurse hurt during the teen’s alleged rage, English told Cato that she hoped the action of a couple students didn’t reflect on the majority of students saying this was an "isolated" and "abnormal" incident.

SEATTLE -- Two fifth-grade boys are in custody in Washington state after they brought a knife and gun to school with the goal of killing a schoolmate in a foiled murder plot that shocked their rural town because of their youth, prosecutors said on Friday.

The boys, accused of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder despite their tender ages of 10 and 11, also planned to harm other students by luring them away one at a time, said Tim Rasmussen, a Stevens County prosecuting attorney.

The boys are due in court next week, where a judge will determine if they had the mental capacity to carry out the attack and if they can be prosecuted in juvenile court, which in Washington is typically reserved for older defendants between ages 12 and 18.

Prosecutors said the boys had boarded a school bus on their way to an elementary school in Colville, a city of 4,600 residents in the far northeast part of the state, with the 11-year-old in possession of a knife and the 10-year-old with a functional Remington Model 1911 semi-automatic handgun.

But a fourth-grade student riding the bus saw the knife and reported it to a teacher's aide, prosecutors said. School officials found the weapons before anyone was hurt, and the two boys were arrested. They are in a juvenile detention facility.

The boys sought to lure the girl away from school, where the older boy planned to stab her, prosecutors said.

"I was going to kill her with the knife and (the younger boy) was supposed to use the gun to keep anyone from trying to stop me or mess up our plan," the older boy told police, according to the declaration of probable cause filed in court.

They intended to kill the girl because "she's rude and always made fun of me and my friends," the younger boy told investigators, according to the documents.

Attorneys for the boys declined to comment.

One of the boys had taken the gun, which originally belonged to his grandfather, from an older brother's room, according to a declaration of probable cause.

The boys also bribed another student with $80 to dissuade him from revealing what he knew about the plot, Rasmussen said.

In addition to the murder conspiracy, the 10-year-old boy faces charges of being in possession of a firearm and tampering with a witness.

The 11-year-old faces charges of murder conspiracy, juvenile firearm possession conspiracy and tampering with a witness.

If they are convicted of all the charges they could be sentenced to over three years in a juvenile treatment facility.

A San Diego teacher arrested for having a loaded gun on campus once told students that he had the gun to protect the school, according to one student.

Farb Middle School teacher Ned Walker, 41, was arrested Monday in the school's parking lot for having a .380 loaded semi-automatic handgun with a 7-round magazine as well as a 2.5-inch locking blade knife in his car.

After the school's staff told the vice principal that Walker may be storing ammunition on campus, she contacted school police, according to district spokesperson Jack Brandais. 

“A search of the two cabinets revealed no ammunition or weapons,  however during a search of the parking lot and the suspect’s car in the parking lot, it was determined he was in possession of a loaded firearm,” said San Diego Unified District Chief of Police Rueben Littlejohn.

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When he was first questioned by police, Walker denied possessing the gun, officials said.

Officers say they found a gun and wallet holster in the teacher's front right pocket during a pat-down.

“This employee has somewhat of an infatuation with guns and brought the weapon to the school to protect himself in the event of a violent intruder,” Littlejohn said.

Walker faces a felony charge of possession of a firearm on school property. He's also facing charges of possession of a knife with a locking blade.

Police are currently investigating the incident to determine how long he was carrying the gun on school grounds. 

San Diego Unified School District has a zero tolerance policy involving weapons, controlled substances or violence.

“With the exception of police, no one should be carrying a gun on school grounds,” Littlejohn said.

A group of Ned Walker's former students said they knew the teacher had a weapon.

Walker’s former student Astin Martin told NBC 7 San Diego, "We all knew. We all knew that he had a gun.”

“He just said it was for protection for us. We didn't really think he'd doing anything with it, he's a good teacher," Martin said.

When asked how it became common knowledge on campus, Martin said Walker revealed that he had the gun to his students at the beginning of the year.

“'I just have it for protection reasons in case something happened at the school,'” Astin recalled the teacher telling the class. “And we're like 'Oh, [okay]', and he's like 'Yeah', and it was just pretty much, we knew about it."

Martin told NBC 7 San Diego the idea of a teacher having a gun on campus didn't bother the class.

"It made us feel extra protected," he said.

Parents feel differently. Janine Lint believes it’s completely unacceptable regardless of the reason.

"I understand that there's a point where we all want to protect the kids, but I think that's up to the school board to place security at schools. I don't think it's the teacher's responsibility to play security guard," Lint said.

Parent Jong Riojas believes there are other ways Walker could offer a feeling of security to students.

"No, it's not right. It's not safe for kids. He can do other things, you know, come in the school, talk to the kids, those things are safe, but gun stuff, that's very danger[ous], you know," Riojas said.

Walker was booked into San Diego Central Jail just after noon on Monday, the Sheriff's Department website showed.

Brandais said Walker has been with the San Diego Unified School District since November 2003.

Interim principal Courtney Rizzo issued a statement to parents on the school's website.

"At Farb Middle School, our first priority is to provide a safe learning environment for our children," read a statement on the school's website. "We also believe in keeping our school community informed about incidents that occur on campus affect our children."

The incident occurred just days after a Poway middle school student was taken into custody in an alleged school shooting plot. An email to a school administrator referenced 3,000 rounds of ammunition as well as numerous firearms in the plot.

One parent says the school should have been better about informing parents and students of the teacher sooner. 

"My eighth-grade daughter was unaware that anything had happened until she got home from school at 5:30 p.m.," Farb Middle School parent Heather Fitzner Wooldridge wrote to NBC 7 San Diego. "Parents are outraged that more information is not being given."

"I understand that you may want more information but due to the fact that this is an active investigation, we are not at liberty to release any additional information or details," Rizzo wrote in the school's statement. "Our focus is to continue to ensure that our students are safe, the learning process goes on as usual, and we work with the proper authorities."

Walker currently teaches seventh and eighth grade English at the middle school but once taught at Hamilton Elementary School.

He has been placed on administrative leave pending the investigation.

Police charged a fifth grade student in Alexandria, Va., with brandishing a weapon during a bus ride home from Douglas MacArthur Elementary School on Monday.

The 10-year-old student apparently showed a phony weapon to his peers during the afternoon bus ride, which prompted an immediate investigation by school officials, Alexandria police said.

Alexandria police and school administrators stopped the student for questioning as he entered the school building on Tuesday morning. Officers discovered a toy replica weapon with an orange tip in the child's backpack, police said, and the student was immediately taken into custody. No students were harmed during the incident.

"The safety of our students is always our first concern,” said Superintendent Morton Sherman. “We appreciate the quick response and action by our police. The student is suspended from school. The school division will complete its investigation in cooperation with the police as we consider further disciplinary action, including expulsion. As always, we encourage direct communication from parents, including personal phone calls."

A New Jersey high school teacher has been arrested for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a student, authorities said.

Jennalin Garcia-Calle, a 28-year-old algebra teacher at Plainfield High School, was arrested Thursday in Davie, Fla., and charged with second-degree sexual assault and fourth-degree child abuse.

According to prosecutors, Garcia-Calle began the relationship with the 16-year-old boy in December. Prosecutors allege that at least three sexual encounters occurred in a classroom inside the school.

"The boy is not at a stage in his life where he's able to make that type of legal and quite frankly mature enough decision," said Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow.

Authorities became aware of the alleged relationship after the student told a family member what had happened. Students at the high school said the boy also bragged about the relationship to classmates.

"They both knew what they were doing, they both knew they were wrong," said senior Imani Campbell.

Prosecutors said Garcia-Calle realized her relationship with the boy had been discovered, prompting her to check into a rehabilitation center in Florida, as well as send the boy messages asking him to erase certain evidence. U.S. marshalls traced those messages and arrested Garcia-Calle.

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She is being held without bond in Florida, awaiting extradition to New Jersey.

The Plainfield Board of Education has placed Garcia-Calle on an administrative suspension.

Information on an attorney for Garcia-Calle was not immediately available.