Two Girls Die In Murder-Suicide At School

Two 15-year-old girls who were apparently in a relationship died from gunshot wounds in a murder-suicide at an Arizona high school, say police.

A suicide note was found at the scene of the shooting on Friday morning near the cafeteria at Independence High School in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale.

Investigators said the girls, both students at the school, were each shot once and a weapon was found near the bodies.

They did not say who fired the first shot. Both were declared dead at the scene, in a covered patio area.

Glendale police spokeswoman Tracey Breeden said: "Information gathered by detectives reveal the two girls were very close friends, appeared to also be in a relationship."

No one else is thought to have witnessed the shooting.

Officers did not reveal any details of what the suicide note said, nor did they name the girls.

The pair were named in local media reports as sophomores Dorothy Dutiel and May Kieu.

Hours before the shooting, Dorothy tweeted: "Good bye (:".

A tweet a day earlier said: "Rejected af".

The girls had been dating for about two years, according to their friends and their social media accounts.

May's sister, Phong Kieu, a science teacher at the school, learned about the shooting while in her classroom.

One of her students said that May, who Ms Kieu had only just dropped off at school that morning, was dead.

"That's when I called attendance and I asked for my sister's schedule," Ms Kieu told ABC 15.

"They put me on hold for 10 minutes and that's when I knew something was wrong."

She said one of the vice-principals escorted her from the classroom.

"That's when they told me," she said. "My sister's gone. They confirmed it and she's not coming back."

Ms Kieu said May had been friends with the other girl since elementary school.

But she said her sister had recently been trying to distance herself from the girl.

First responders rushed to the school after receiving the call just before 8am local time.

The campus, which has about 2,000 students, was put on lockdown and nearby streets were closed to traffic.

:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal in the UK can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org

In the US call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.