Middle school student fires shots at his classmates and kills his teacher

A heroic teacher and former Marine Mike Landsberry and his wife (photo provided by Chanda Landsberry)

It was just a peaceful Monday morning like any other week in Sparks Middle School in Sparks, Nevada. The school was livened up with its students and parents dropping their kids off to school. Then it happened. A student drew a semiautomatic handgun at two 12-year-olds and shot them, one in the abdomen and other in the shoulder. A heroic teacher tried to stop the shooter and protect the wounded kids, but got killed. According to Sparks PD Deputy Chief Tom Miller, 2 boys are now in stable condition, and the shooter committed suicide with the gun he had after.

The math teacher is now identified as Mike Landsberry (45), a former Marine, a husband, and a father to two stepdaughters. The students at the scene said the teacher was well liked by the school kids.

Kyle Nucum (13) said in an interview with Reno Gazette-Journal that he heard a loud pop first and screaming. Then he saw a student drawing a gun at the teacher. Nucum heard Mr. Landsberry ordering the kid to put the gun down. Then the kid fired a shot at the teacher. The shooter then fired 4-5 more shots at the fleeing students before killing himself.

The shooter’s identity is withheld and a student who knew the shooter was shocked by what happened. The student said the shooter was actually a very nice kid who cared for others.

Sparks PD still did not find the intention of the shooting but found out the shooter took the weapon from his parents. The school will remain closed for the rest of this week.

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com