EDINBURG, Texas -- Two students were shot Monday outside a south Texas middle school while trying out for a basketball team, and authorities said hunters may be to blame.
The shooting happened Monday afternoon while the students were on an outdoor court at Harwell Middle School in Edinburg.
Two boys — ages 13 and 14 — were shot, said Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino. School was not in session, but the building was immediately placed on lockdown.
Trevino said investigators believe the shots may have come from hunters on adjacent farm property in Edinburg, which is about 50 miles northwest of Brownsville. The shots did not come from the campus and weren't a result of a drive-by, he said.
Investigators have spoken with owners of surrounding farms and the land was being leased to deer hunters, he said. One hunter who was found on one of the adjoining properties with a .223-caliber semiautomatic rifle was being interviewed by investigators and two others were questioned but released.
Trevino said it's too early to say whether the students were targeted or if the shooting was accidental.
One of the wounded boys was in critical condition Monday night with a bullet embedded in an organ. The other was stable and awaiting X-rays, Trevino said.
The shots came from a field west of the school about 4:45 p.m. Monday as the students tried out for the school basketball team outside on the campus' northwest side, The Monitor reported.
The victims were a 7th-grader and an 8th-grader. Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District spokesman Gilbert Tagle told KGBT-TV one of the students was shot in the back, the other just under the armpit, Tagle said.One student was hit while shooting a layup. The other was sitting on the curb, awaiting his turn, according to The Monitor.
Parents rushed to the school to check on their children after word spread of the shooting.
By 7:20 p.m. Monday, traffic had cleared from the road in front of the school, and only emergency vehicles remained. Several school buses made their way through traffic and the police cordon to the front of the school where they picked up students.
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