Texas school shooting: Girl shoots classmate, turns gun on herself

Alpine High School in Texas was placed into lockdown after a shooting. Photo / Google

A female shooter has injured a classmate before turning the gun on herself at a high school in Texas, according to local reports.

The shooting happened just after 8.30am yesterday (1.30am today NZT) at Alpine High School, in the state's west.

An Alpine School Board source told El Paso Proud the female shooter was found dead in the school bathroom.

Brewster County Sheriff Ronny Dodson said a female student was taken to hospital with a gun shot wound, while a police officer responding to the scene was shot in what appears to have been an accident.

The identities of the shooter and victims have not been released.

Reported active shooter at Alpine High school. Students at high school are being evacuated. All schools remain on lockdown. Please stay tuned for more (Avalanche photo by Gail D Yovanovich).

Posted by Alpine Avalanche on Thursday, 8 September 2016

Elizabeth Carter, a lieutenant with the Texas Department of Public Safety, said someone brought a gun onto the school campus on Thursday morning.

Ruth Hucke, a spokeswoman for Big Bend Regional Medical Centre in Alpine, said hospital personnel were tending to three "victims".

Hucke declined to say how the victims were injured or further identify them. When asked if the victims had been shot, Hucke said she "can't say anything further".

Alpine High School, which has about 280 students, was evacuated and other area schools were also placed on lockdown.

The Alpine Independent School District website says the town of about 5900 residents has three schools. Alpine is 354km southeast of El Paso.

The incident was just the latest in a long series of shootings at US schools that have claimed dozens of lives.