Police in Brownsville, Texas, today shot and killed an eighth-grade student who was brandishing a gun at a middle school, the Brownsville Herald reports.

Update at 6:30 p.m. ET: Here's more information about the gun from Brownsville police:

The weapon used by the suspect is a CO2 .177-caliber pellet pistol and is similar to a Glock type semiautomatic handgun. The preliminary investigation indicates that the suspect assaulted a student prior to the officers' arrival and made statements to witnesses that he was going to engage the officers with the weapon.

Update at 6:25 p.m. ET: The weapon was a pellet gun that looked like a real firearm, AP now reports.

Update at 6:06 p.m. ET: The dead student has been identified as Jaime Gonzalez, 15, the San Antonio paper reports.

Interim Brownsville Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez announced the identification at a news conference and offered this summary of the day's deadly events:

Gonzalez picked a fight this morning with another student randomly, Rodriguez said, and afterward brandished a gun. Police quickly responded to a 911 call from the school. Two officers fired at Gonzalez and he was struck at least twice, Rodriguez said.

The Texas Rangers will join the investigation, he said. The school will remain closed Thursday as the investigation continues.

Update at 3:29 p.m. ET: Besides a gun, the eighth-grader had a knife and was involved in a fight before school began, a student tells the San Antonio News-Express. Police have still not identified the dead student or said whether he had fired at officers or what kind of gun he had.

Earlier posts by Douglas Stanglin:

Update at 1:09 p.m. ET: KXXV-TV in Waco reports, without attribution, that police told the teenager to put his weapon down, but that the student did not comply. Police shot the boy three times, KXXV-TV says.

Update at 12:56 p.m. ET: The 15-year-old student died after being taken to a local hospital, KGBT-TV reports.

Update at 12:45 p.m. ET: A seventh-grade student who said he was two classrooms from where the shooting took place said the school was already on lockdown when he heard three shots, the Associated Press reports. Miguel Grimaldo, 12, said students later followed police out of the building and boarded buses that took them to a neighboring park, where his mother picked him up late this morning.

Brownsville is 280 miles south of San Antonio on the southern tip of Texas.

WATCH: Raw video from KVEO of student being taken into custody

Update at 12:09 p.m. ET: A school administrator apparently noticed the student carrying the gun and called police, Brownsville police Detective J.J. Trevino said, according to the Associated Press. He said investigators hadn't determined whether the student fired any shots. He said he had no information on why the student had the gun on him.

"It's still under investigation, as far as how he came about to bringing the weapon or if he encountered anybody or anything else," Trevino said.

Update at 11:27 a.m. ET: Brownsville police Detective J.J. Trevino said officers found the student with a handgun in a hallway and shot him, the Associated Press reports.

Update at 11:17 a.m. ET:The newspaper, quoting Justice of the Peace Kip V. Johnson Hodge, reports that the suspect was an eighth-grade student at the school.

Original post: The newspaper says the suspect had "engaged police" around 8 a.m. today but it was not immediately clear if he had also opened fire.

The Cummings Middle School was locked down during the ordeal.

There were no other injuries, although a student was detained for questioning, the newspaper says.