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TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — A Corona del Sol High School student fatally shot himself on campus Tuesday, Tempe police said.
Police later identified the student as 18-year-old senior Marcus Wheeler.
School staff notified a police school resource officer after Wheeler was spotted holding a handgun to his head in an exterior breezeway near the gymnasium about 9 a.m.
Police said the resource officer unsuccessfully tried to talk Wheeler into putting the gun down.
There was no immediate information on why Wheeler was distraught, according to authorities.
Other students were in class and none was present when the student shot himself, according to Lt. Scott Smith, a Tempe police spokesman.
The school was placed on lockdown when authorities learned of reports of a person on campus with a gun.
Smith said students were released for the day.
The incident prompted athletic officials to cancel a high-school playoff baseball game in which Corona del Sol was scheduled to play Tuesday afternoon. The game was rescheduled for Wednesday afternoon at Maryvale Baseball Park.
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