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A 17-year-old honors student shot himself in the head in front of his first-period class at La Salle High School near Cincinnati on the morning of April 29, 2013, according to Green Township police and school officials.

The student, a junior whose name was withheld at his family's request because he was a minor, was seated at the front of an honors leadership class shortly after 9 a.m. when he pulled out a handgun, police said. A teacher told investigators the student briefly struggled to chamber the weapon, then placed it against his head and fired a single round. Twenty-two other students and the teacher were in the room.

Several students ran from the classroom and called 911 from inside the building. 'There's a guy with a gun,' one caller told a dispatcher. 'We just need police here.' Another student, hiding with classmates, said, 'We're huddled in a corner.' The exchanges were captured on the 911 recordings from that morning.

Police said the student used a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol that was normally kept in a gun safe at his home. Green Township Police Chief Bart West said investigators found no sign that anyone else had been targeted and described the shooting as an isolated, self-inflicted act. The school went into a lockdown that lasted about an hour before students were sent home for the day.

School officials described the student as an honors-roll junior with roughly 80 hours of community service who was working toward the rank of Eagle Scout. His parents released a statement thanking hospital staff for what they described as heroic efforts and asking for privacy.

The student was hospitalized in critical condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and was initially reported to be fighting for his life. On May 22, 2013, his family said he had been moved from the hospital to a rehabilitation facility to help rebuild his mobility and strength.