A shooting in a southwest Kentucky high school on Tuesday morning has left two students dead and 17 injured, said Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin.

Bevin told a press conference at Marshall County Board of Education that the shooter was a 15-year-old male student, who was taken into custody and would be charged with murder and attempted murder.

He urged people to be patient for more details and not to jeopardize the ongoing investigation.

"Fourteen people were wounded, two of them fatally, after a shooter opened fire Tuesday morning at Marshall County High School," Bevin said, adding another five people sustained other injuries.

A female student was shot dead at the scene while another male student died in hospital, said the governor.

Local police have started to search the home of the suspect, trying to find motive for the shooting.

In a statement the governor issued earlier, he said "this is a tremendous tragedy and speaks to the heartbreak present in our communities. It is unbelievable that his would happen in a small, close-knit community like Marshall County."

Local police responded to the shooting around 8:00 a.m. (1400 GMT) and the scene was soon secured. The suspect was arrested without resistance.

Students at the high school were later bused to a nearby middle school for parents to pick them up.

Amid the chaos following the shooting, many students had no time to take their cell phones from backpacks during the evacuation, which made parents very anxious in contacting with their kids, local television channel WPSD-6 reported.

Helicopters were seen landing at the school to treat the wounded. 

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