Norman community on high alert after shooting near Reagan Elementary School

A community is in shock and deeply disturbed after a Tuesday night shooting near Reagan Elementary School, located on 24th Avenue Southeast.

“It’s just shameful,” said one neighbor, Sherry Ramsey.

“That is terrifying to think that a child of that age can get ahold of such a deadly weapon. It’s very disturbing,” said Jayne Jewell, another neighbor.

Both Ramsey and Jewell live on a street just a block away from the elementary school.

Norman Police arrested a 15-year-old boy for allegedly shooting a 15-year-old girl.

“About 7:27 p.m. yesterday we received the first phone call in in regards to a reported shooting,” said Sarah Schettler with the Norman Police Department.

Police say the shooting happened in an area behind Reagan Elementary.

“An altercation began to occur between the two of them. At that point, the 15- year-old male pulled out a firearm and shot the 15-year-old female and then ran from the area,” Schettler said.

Jewell said she drove by the scene after leaving work at 7 p.m. Tuesday evening.

“I saw several police cars pulling into the neighborhood,”

She also said she’s concerned for the children in her community.

“We have a lot of young families in the neighborhood. And, you know, coming up on Halloween, we always get a lot of trick or treaters in our neighborhood,” Jewell said.

According to authorities, the 15-year-old girl was taken to a local hospital and is still being treated for her injuries.

Norman Police told News 4 they are still working to determine how the two were connected.

After the 15-year-old suspect ran away from the scene, he was found near a residence in the 800 block of Lexington Street, which is about a 12-minute drive from Reagan Elementary.

Jewell said she’s still in disbelief.

“You hear about things like this all the time in the news, but of course, you don’t ever think it’s going to happen anywhere near you,” Jewell said.

Norman Police said the 15-year-old girl’s injuries appear to be non-life threatening, and that the investigation is ongoing.