US: Shooting At Business School In St Louis

A man shot an administrator at a college in St Louis, Missouri, and then himself, according to police.

St Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson said the shooting at the Stevens Institute of Business and Arts happened at about 2pm.

The administrator - a man in his 40s - was shot in his office.

Chief Dotson said the gunman was a student at the school who had no history of threatening behaviour, and the motive for the shooting was not clear.

Both the administrator and the suspect were undergoing surgery. Chief Dotson did not know if their injuries were life-threatening.

Police arrived within a minute of receiving a call about the shooting.

They found students huddled under desks and in closets. The administrator had made it to an elevator. The gunman was found injured in a stairwell.

Officers hurriedly escorted students and staff out of the building and then made sure no other gunmen were inside.

Among the students was 24-year-old Britanee Jones. She refused to speak to reporters but her mother, Angae Lowery, said her daughter texted a friend, who then alerted her.

"She sent a text message and said a gunman was in the building," Ms Lowery said after greeting her daughter with a screech of joy and a hug. "She saw him (the gunman) go by the classroom.

"I'm so happy to see her come out of there," Ms Lowery said. "I'm relieved."

The school has about 180 students and is located in a historic building in the downtown loft district.

It opened as Patricia Stevens College in 1947 and offers classes in business administration, tourism and hospitality, paralegal studies, fashion, and retail and interior design.