MEMPHIS (Tennessee), Feb 11: A 17-year-old student was critically wounded and another arrested after a school shooting here on Monday, the latest of a slew of high-profile shootings across the country.

Shots and screams rang out through the halls after an argument that started during a physical education class.

“We believe the incident occurred because of something in the community and the student brought it to school,” Mitchell High School principal John Ware said at a press conference.

Ward urged students to come to class on Tuesday when they will be writing important tests, but students were badly shaken by the shooting.

“It was just crazy because all you see are students running down the hall saying ‘They’re shooting!’ ‘They’re shooting!’” student Michelle Oliver told WMC-TV news.

“We thought we’d be safe at school but obviously not because something like this could happen.” Student Raven Taylor described the victim as a well-liked youth who avoided trouble.

“It’s just going to be very heartbreaking if he doesn’t make it, “she told the local station.

The incident came a week after another Memphis student was shot in the leg by a classmate during algebra class in a dispute over rap lyrics and caps a week of deadly shootings nationwide.

On Friday, a female student shot dead two other women before turning the gun on herself at a college in the southern state of Louisiana.—AFP