A suicidal eighth grader who pulled a handgun in class and briefly took another child hostage was shot by a sheriff's SWAT team member Friday when he later threatened deputies, Seminole County officials said.

Investigators said students at Milwee Middle School on 1341 South Ronald Regan Blvd., near Longwood, Fla., noticed a Beretta gun in a backpack of a 15-year-old student at about 9:30 a.m. Friday.

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The two students confronted the boy and a fight broke out, officers said. The two students then told a resource officer.

When the officer confronted the boy about the gun, he fled and was eventually cornered near a bathroom on campus.

"During the situation the student said he was going to kill himself or die, one way or another," Seminole County Don Eslinger said. "Deputies attempted to establish dialog. He raised a firearm and lethal force was used by the sheriff's office. "He was suicidal."

The student was transported to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. Several reports indicated that the boy had died from his injuries but those reports were not confirmed.

Students, teachers and school staff members were evacuated and are safe, deputies said.

Classes were canceled for the rest of the day.

Eslinger said he was not sure of the boy's motive.

"When I saw the news, I just couldn't believe this was my daughter's school. I came right away," said Anil Santos, whose daughter, Aleister, is in eighth grade.

Sarah Tivy, a 12-year-old seventh grader, said some students were frightened, but she appeared calm.

"I just figured that if someone is going to bring a gun to school, then they need to be taken out of school," she said The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.