LOS ANGELES, March 23 — A student who shot two school staff and then fled was being sought by police in Colorado yesterday, in the latest instance of gun violence to rock US education.

The suspect, named as 17-year-old Austin Lyle, was being patted down as part of a search for weapons when he produced a handgun and began shooting, said police in the western US state.

Denver Police Department said late Wednesday that a body, which was not identified, was found in the vicinity of Lyle’s vehicle in Park County, Colorado, southwest of Denver, where the school shooting occurred.

"A body has been located near the suspect’s vehicle, the identity and cause of death will be determined by the Park County Medical Examiner’s Office,” Denver police said on Twitter.

The teen’s vehicle was found just before 4.30pm (6.30am Malaysian time), police said, according to The Denver Post newspaper.

A body was discovered about four hours later, approximately 320 metres from the vehicle, Park County Sheriff Tom McGraw said, as reported by the Post.

McGraw did not identify the body but said a shelter-in-place order for local residents was lifted after the body was found.

Classes cancelled

"At approximately 9.50am this morning, a call was aired of a shooting here at East High School,” Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas said earlier Wednesday.

Responding officers and medical professionals "discovered two adult males that had suffered gunshot wounds” at the scene, he said.

The men, school administrators, were rushed to a hospital, where one was in critical condition.

Thomas said Lyle had been subject to an agreement under which he would be searched for weapons every day when arriving at school.

These arrangements, he said, are typically begun because of concerns over past behaviour.

Denver police said on Twitter they were taking the unusual step of identifying a wanted juvenile "due to the public safety concern that he poses.”

Lyle is Black and was last seen wearing a green hoodie, the department said.

Wednesday’s shooting at East High School came just weeks after a 16-year-old student was fatally shot in his car there.

Classes at the school have been cancelled for the rest of the week, Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero said.

When students return, armed officers will be present on campus for the remainder of the school year, he added.

The Denver Post reported that the city’s elected school board voted in 2020 to get rid of police officers from schools as part of a national reckoning over race and policing.

Board members argued the presence of officers was detrimental to students of colour, the Post said.

School shootings in the United States are alarmingly common, despite public anguish in the wake of the high-profile massacres at Sandy Hook and Uvalde, among others.

Students all over the country are taught how to respond to an "active shooter” on campus, and debate continues to swirl about arming teachers and bolstering security.

While an overwhelming majority of Americans favour stricter controls on who can have a gun, the country’s political class is deadlocked, with conservative voices arguing a constitutional right to deadly weapons cannot be infringed. — AFP