At least 2 dead following school shooting in US state of Missouri

At least two people are dead following a shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in St. Louis, Missouri.

Law enforcement received a call of an active shooter at 9:10 am local time (1410 GMT), and officers were on the scene within minutes and "immediately made entry into the school as kids were fleeing out of the building," St. Louis Police Chief Mike Sack told reporters on Tuesday.

The students informed police there was a shooter in the school armed with a long gun, and officers ran to the source of gunfire. Officers engaged in a shootout with the suspect, fatally wounding him.

The shooter, who police estimated to be roughly 20 years-old, has not been identified. No officers were injured during the confrontation, according to authorities.

One female teenager died at the school, and an adult woman died while receiving treatment at a nearby hospital. Both were fatally shot. Eight other individuals were transported to local hospitals following the shooting, and are being treated for "a variety of injuries, from shrapnel injuries to gunshots."

Sack said that despite the official casualty toll, there are in fact "hundreds of others" who will have to cope with the trauma they endured on Monday, including students, staff, law enforcement and medical personnel.

"Everyone who survived here is going to take on trauma," said Sack.