and asked him to set down the firearm. >> reporter: a state police lieutenant who was dropping off his own child came running to help. >> it's one thing for an armed state police officer to enter a school and do his or her job. i commend the principal, people that work at the school, for saving many more lives. >> reporter: police say they don't know why the seventh grade suspect began shooting. his victims, a 13-year-old girl and 11-year-old boy, flown to a hospital in nearby lubbock, texas. she's in satisfactory condition, the boy in critical after undergoing emergency surgery. >> keep these two children in their prayers. who were shot while simply sitting in their gym, waiting to go to class. >> reporter: frantic parents came racing to find and hug their terrified kids. deja vu in a country where school shootings are no longer rare. the shooting happened barely a month after another student open fire at this high school in colorado. 17-year-old claire davis was