A science teacher at an Indiana middle school saved lives when he threw a basketball at a student who opened fire in his classroom, a witness said.

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The teacher, Jason Seaman, 29, was wounded as he reportedly swatted a gun away from the shooter, who was not immediately identified. One student was also wounded. Seaman was in good condition on Friday night, police spokesman Bruce Barnes said, adding: “There were no apparent injuries to the alleged shooter.”

The family of the injured student released a statement late on Friday saying she was in critical but stable condition and doing well at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.

“Our daughter, Ella Whistler, was involved in a horrific shooting today at her school,” the Whistler family said. “We will spend the next days and weeks processing what happened and why.”

The attacker, who asked to be dismissed from class before returning with two guns, was arrested “extremely quickly” after the incident around 9am on Friday at Noblesville West middle school, police Chief Kevin Jowitt said. Authorities did not say if the student had been in trouble but it was thought he acted alone.

A seventh-grader, Ethan Stonebraker, said the student was acting suspiciously when he walked into the room while the class was taking a test.



“Our science teacher immediately ran at him, swatted a gun out of his hand and tackled him to the ground,” Stonebraker said. “If it weren’t for him, more of us would have been injured for sure.”



Stonebraker told ABC News Seaman threw a basketball at the shooter and ran toward the bullets as screaming students sought cover. He said he knew the suspected gunman, whom he described as “a nice kid most of the times” and said he often joked with the classmates.



“It’s just a shock he would do something like that,” Stonebraker said.

The attack occurred a week after an attack at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, in which eight students and two teachers were killed, and months after 17 people were killed at a high school in Parkland, Florida. The Florida attack inspired students across the US to call for more restrictions on access to guns.

Seaman’s brother, Jeremy Seaman, told the Indianapolis Star his brother was shot three times and was undergoing surgery. He said his brother was conscious after the shooting and talked with his wife, telling her he was OK. Jeremy Seaman said his brother was a defensive end for Southern Illinois University’s football team and had never been a person to run away.

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Authorities referred to a prompt and heroic response but did not confirm accounts of the teacher tackling the student or describe the role of a resource officer stationed at the school. Asked to elaborate, Indiana state police superintendent Doug Carter said: “Wait till one day we can tell you that story. You’ll be proud of them, too.”

On Saturday, Donald Trump tweeted his “thanks to very brave Teacher & Hero Jason Seaman of Noblesville, Indiana, for his heroic act in saving so many precious young lives. His quick and automatic action is being talked about all over the world!”

Hours after the shooting, law enforcement agents sealed off part of an upscale neighborhood in Noblesville but were not commenting on whether the suspect lived there. Sandy McWilliams, a member of a landscaping crew, said six officers with assault rifles entered a home.



Students were bused to the Noblesville high school gym, where hundreds of parents and other family members arrived to retrieve them. Eighth-grader Chris Navarro said he was inside an auditorium when he heard several gunshots about a minute before the bell rang for the change in classes.

“The speaker came on and said we were on lockdown and people rushed in and we went to the back of the room. I went into this little room in the back with three other people,” he said.

Jennifer Morris, who was among parents who rushed to pick up their children, said she was at work when her 14-year-old son sent a text message about the shooting.

“He said, ‘I’m OK, please come get me.’ That was probably 20 minutes after it happened,” Morris said. “It’s like a bad dream. I don’t know how you get the kids through this. This isn’t something you’re trained for as a parent.”

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Indiana governor Eric Holcomb, who was returning from a trip to Europe on Friday, issued a statement saying he and other state leaders were getting updates about the situation and that 100 state police officers had been made available.

“Our thoughts are with all those affected by this horrible situation,” he said.

Noblesville, which is about 20 miles north-east of Indianapolis, is home to about 50,000 people. The middle school has about 1,300 students from grades six to eight. The school’s academic year was scheduled to end next Friday.

Indiana Democrats issued a statement in response to Friday’s shooting expressing their condolences to the victims and calling for steps to prevent such shootings, including restrictions on guns.