Argentines die in school shooting
A 15-year-old boy has opened fire in a classroom in southern Argentina, killing four fellow students and wounding five others.
Police said the shooting occurred before the start of class at a school in Carmen de Patagones, 620 miles (1,000km) south of Buenos Aires.
Witnesses said the boy entered the classroom and began to shoot using a 9mm pistol.
Police arrested the boy and took him for questioning.
Correspondents say the incident sparked debate on national television about rising violence in schools in Argentina, which is considered one of the safest countries in South America.
No warning
The shooter entered the room at the Islas Malvinas public school without saying a word, witnesses told police.
"There was no kind of aggression nor verbal warning," local police chief Eduardo Diego said on television.
"The boy pulled the weapon out from under his clothes and began to shoot."
Witnesses said the boy, nicknamed "Junior", aimed first at the walls, as students hid beneath desks.
Students outside the classroom said they thought they heard firecrackers going off.
"We heard gunfire and a lot of screaming and then everyone coming out into the hallway," a teenage boy was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.
"We saw three bodies on the ground with bullet wounds."
Two girls and a boy died at the scene. Another girl died later in the hospital.
'Timid boy'
The youth is said to be the son of a coast guard officer. Some reports say he used his father's handgun.
The suspect had no history of violence, officials said.
"He was a timid boy, who was having difficulty integrating, but he never displayed any violent attitudes," a local education official said.
He was transferred to detention in Bahia Blanca, another city in the province.
