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Simon Drobik, an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman, said 42-year-old Alex Placencio was hospitalized after being shot in the hand and thigh, while the alleged shooter, Juan Saucedo, 38, fled in a truck.

He said the case will go to the District Attorney’s Office to see if Saucedo or Placencio will face charges. Both men remain free while the DA’s office reviews the case to see if any charges will be filed.

“The high school was not targeted and no students were injured,” Drobik said.

He said police responded to the shots fired call around 2:30 p.m. and the school was placed on lockdown immediately, with the lockdown being lifted by 3 p.m.

According to a police report, witnesses told police Placencio and Saucedo began arguing in the street as parents waited to pick up their kids from school.

“Words were exchanged,” Drobik said. “Those words turned into a fistfight.”

Witnesses say Placencio grabbed an aluminum bat from the trunk of his car and began beating the hood of Saucedo’s truck with it before turning the bat on Saucedo himself.

From there, Drobik said Saucedo pulled out a gun and shot Placencio twice.

“Completely ridiculous,” Drobik said. “Two individuals get in a fistfight, which results in a gunfight, in front of a high school.”

Highland’s Principal Marco Harris released a statement acknowledging the shooting and saying the incident is under investigation.

“Safety is always of the utmost importance at our school, and I appreciate the cooperation of students and staff,” Harris said in the statement.

Deidre Skinner said she had just pulled into the school entrance to pick up her daughter when she saw two men “scuffling” in the road outside.

“I turned around and I heard gunshots,” she said. “The one guy that was shooting, I saw him walking away fast.”

Skinner said she pulled next to Placencio, who had been shot, and asked if he needed any help.

She said Placencio was upset and told her he was always “having problems” with the shooter.

“It scares the crap out of me because we are trying to teach our children not to have violence at school, we’re trying to make our school safe for our kids, and we have two fathers scuffling and shooting at each other in the street,” Skinner said. “It’s just sickening.”

Police vehicles crowded the entrance to the high school while parents, staff and onlookers waited on the other side of crime scene tape to find out what happened.