The "heroics" of a teacher and campus supervisor protected students Thursday morning after a student with a shotgun opened fire on a 16-year-old classmate in a California high school classroom, police and sheriff's officials said.

The 16-year-old victim was in critical, but stable condition Thursday afternoon. The boy's injuries are not considering life-threatening, according to the Kern County Sheriff's Department.

Although officials would not name the teacher who confronted the student, his father told NBC4 Thursday afternoon that he was Ryan Heber.

Taft police received a report of shots fired at Taft Union High School (map), about 120 miles north of Los Angeles, at about 9 a.m. local time. Two Taft police units were at the school 60 seconds later, police said.

Slideshow from NBCLosAngeles.com: Shooting at Taft Union High School

The gunman, who is in custody, entered a classroom on the second floor of a science building and shot one student. About 30 students were in the classroom when the gunman entered about halfway through the session.

A teacher who "engaged" the gunman in conversation after the shooting suffered minor injuries when he was grazed by a pellet from the 12-gauge shotgun, according to the Kern County Sheriff's Department. The teacher, joined by a campus supervisor, convinced the student to drop the weapon, said Kern County Sheriff Don Youngblood.

"If it weren't for this teacher and a quick response, we don't know," Youngblood said."They talked him into putting the shotgun down."

The shooter -- described as a 16-year-old male student who lives near the school -- had "a dialogue" with the victim before Thursday morning, Youngblood said. After shooting the student, the gunman shot at -- but missed -- a second student as the teacher attempted to "get students out of the classroom."

The teacher "disarmed" the gunman before officers took him into custody, Youngblood said.

Casey Christie / Zuma Press

Sharon Bernard waits in front of Taft High School for her grandchildren after Thursday's shooting on campus.

"He told the teacher, 'I don't want to shoot you,' and named the other person he wanted to shoot," Youngblood said. "He had intended targets -- there's no question."

The teacher's injury was described a graze wound to the head, caused by shotgun pellet. The teacher told investigators he was not certain how many rounds were fired.

"The student was still armed with a shotgun at the time," Youngblood said of the encounter. "They probably distracted him, allowing students to get out of the classroom. I don't know what his exact words were, but they're being interviewed at this point.

"The heroics go without saying -- to stand there and face someone who has a shotgun and has already shot a student, we're very proud of the job they did."

Previous story: Two reported shot at California high school

It was not immediately clear how the student gained access to the weapon, sheriff's officials said. Authorities said they were not sure how a student with a gun was able to walk onto campus and enter a classroom.

Youngblood said the gunman had "numerous" shotgun shells in his pocket as the teacher and supervisor talked with him.

"We can't thank them enough for what they did today," said Taft Police Chief Ed Whiting. "They are really awesome people."

Students were brought to the school auditorium to wait for their parents.

A school security officer is usually assigned to the school, but weather conditions might have prevented the officer from arriving at the campus Thursday, Youngblood said.

The high school is in the Kern County community of Taft, a city of about 9,500 residents near a massive oil field at the southwestern edge of California's Central Valley.

The Taft shooting came less than one month after a gunman killed 20 children and six women at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., then killed himself.

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Updated at 4:45 p.m. ET: A high school teacher and a campus supervisor talked a student into surrendering after he opened fire in a classroom, wounding a classmate at a school in California's southern San Joaquin Valley on Thursday morning, police said.

The student had intentional targets when he brought a 12-gauge shotgun into the Taft Union High School classroom halfway through the first period, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said in a news conference. The incident happened around 9 a.m. local time and students were evacuated to the football field, NBC affiliate KGET of Bakersfield reported.

The shooter targeted and hit a 16-year-old student in the classroom of 28, and missed firing on another student he named, Youngblood said. The wounded victim was airlifted to the hospital, where the 16-year-old remains in critical, but stable, condition.

The teacher in the classroom, along with a campus supervisor, "engaged" the shooter with conversation as students were evacuating, according to Youngbood. At one point the shooter put the shotgun down, and officers were able to take him into custody. The gunman's identity has not been released, however he was described as a 16-year-old male student who lives near the school, NBCLosAngeles.com reported.

"We want to commend the teacher and a campus supervisor to bring this to a quick resolution," Taft Police Chief Ed Whiting said. "They did a great job in protecting the kids."

The teacher, who has not been named by officials, was grazed by a pellet to the head, Youngblood said. A second student suffered minor injuries while falling over a table during the evacuation, and a third student was taken to a hospital for possible hearing loss from the gun blast sound, Youngblood said, according to Reuters.

The shooter had as many as 20 shotgun rounds in his pocket, but it's not clear how many rounds were fired, Youngblood said.

Police say the suspect reportedly had "a dialogue" with the victim before Thursday morning, NBCLosAngeles.com reported.

KGET reported that at least three ambulances and a medevac helicopter had been sent to the scene.

Earlier, Taft police told NBC News they responded to the situation and the school was on lockdown. Deputies conducted a room-to-room search, according to KGET. The Kern County Sheriff's Department told NBCLosAngeles.com the shooting happened on the second floor of a science building on campus.

The school will be closed Friday, as authorities continue the investigation, KGET reported. Officials say the high school usually has an armed police officer, but the officer was not on site at the time.

Taft is in California's southern San Joaquin Valley, about 30 miles southwest from Bakersfield.

Thursday's shooting comes just a month after the Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., which claimed the lives of 20 children and six adult staffers and renewed a nationwide debate about gun control.

In February 2010, a math teacher tackled a gunman who wounded two middle school students in Littleton, Colo., just miles away from the scene of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.

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NBCLosAngeles.com's Jonathan Lloyd and Nyree Arabian, as well as Reuters, contributed to this report.