Indiana middle school reopens 5 days after student, teacher wounded in shooting

NOBLESVILLE, Ind. — Students were greeted by counselors, school staff and comfort dogs as they returned to a suburban Indianapolis middle school five days after a 13-year-old girl and a teacher were shot and wounded there.

Noblesville Schools spokeswoman Marnie Cooke says counselors and local principals met students Wednesday “to provide more familiar faces” as they returned to Noblesville West Middle School.

The school is operating on a shortened schedule through the end of the school year Friday, so officials can focus on counseling students still shaken by the shooting.

Scores of cars and more than a dozen buses dropped children off Wednesday morning at the school, where classes were resuming two hours later than usual.

At least three police vehicles were positioned on the school’s campus. Some school buses appeared to have only a few students on board.

Science teacher Jason Seaman has been hailed for tackling the shooter after he seriously wounded 13-year-old Ella Whistler on Friday morning. She remains hospitalized in Indianapolis. School officials say her condition is improving.

Cooke says Seaman wasn’t at school when students returned Wednesday.