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Teacher tackles, holds student after shots fired in packed classroom at Ill. school

NORMAL, Ill. — Police say a teacher tackled a student and detained him just after gunshots were fired into the ceiling of a packed classroom at a central Illinois high school. No one was injured.

Normal Police Chief Rick Bleichner said at a news conference Friday that a 14-year-old student was being questioned after the early-morning incident.

Bleichner said police entered the classroom and found the teacher had subdued the student. The chief said a handgun was used but shots weren’t directed at anyone. The motive wasn’t known.

The school evacuated its more than 1,800 students to a nearby church and parents were called to pick them up.

Normal is 135 miles southwest of Chicago.