Man in custody day after teacher shot near Missouri school

WELDON SPRING, Mo. (AP) — A man was taken into custody Thursday in a wooded area near a suburban St. Louis high school, a day after a teacher was shot by an apparent stranger on a trail near the school.

St. Charles County police and the Francis Howell School District confirmed that a "person of interest" was taken into custody after being spotted near the August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area, and near Francis Howell High School. He had not been charged by midday.

The bizarre turn of events began Wednesday afternoon when a 36-year-old male teacher was jogging on a trail in the conservation area, which is near the Missouri River and about 25 miles west of St. Louis.

Police said the teacher passed a man on the trail. After crossing paths, the man fired several shots with a handgun. The teacher was struck once in the back.

The teacher made it to nearby Highway 94, where a passer-by drove him to the school. The teacher was treated and released at a hospital.

On Thursday morning, police in the air spotted a tent in the woods not far from the school, prompting a lockdown that prohibited people from entering or leaving school buildings. Soon thereafter, the man was spotted by police. A St. Louis Post-Dispatch photojournalist reported that he ran about 80 yards before following police orders to surrender.

Police have not said if the man was armed, or if weapons had been found.