Three teens shot outside US high school in Portland

Police investigate outside the Rosemary Anderson High School in Portland, Oregon December 12, 2014. Three teenagers were shot on Friday outside the high school, police said, and officers were searching for at least one suspect who was believed to have left the scene following the gunfire. All three victims of the shooting outside Rosemary Anderson High School in north Portland, two boys and one girl, were "conscious and breathing" as they were rushed to a local hospital, the Portland Police Bureau said in a tweet. [Photo/Agencies]

PORTLAND, Ore. - Three teenagers were shot and wounded on Friday near a Portland, Oregon, alternative high school, police said, and officers were searching for a suspect who ran from the scene following the gunfire.

The two boys and one girl shot outside Rosemary Anderson High School in north Portland were "conscious and breathing" as they were rushed to a local hospital, the Portland Police Bureau said in a tweet.

A spokeswoman for Legacy Emanuel Medical Center confirmed that the hospital was treating three patients from the incident but declined to give out any information on their condition, citing medical privacy laws.

It was not immediately clear if the victims were students at Rosemary Anderson, but police said they ran to the school following the shooting, shortly after noon, and were treated there as it was immediately placed on lockdown.

The shooter ran from the area, police said, and officers with search dogs were combing nearby neighborhoods for the suspect.

"Officers have cleared the school. Area is safe and secure," the police bureau said on Twitter, adding that it was not considered an "active shooter situation."

The Portland Oregonian newspaper reported that a female student was struck in the chest and a 17-year-old was shot in the back. There was no immediate information on the third victim.

The paper said FBI agents were on the scene to assist police and that investigators believed the suspect has ties to a street gang. Parents were reunited with their children at a staging area several blocks from the school.

Aly Wright, who works at the Coffeehouse Five cafe near the school, said her customers heard several gunshots, followed by the quick arrival of police.

"This whole block is on lockdown," she said.

The neighborhood has a history of gang violence, said Johnny Bradford, a Portland minister interviewed by Reuters near the scene.

The shooting is "really surprising because it's really been good for the last couple of years," Bradford said.

Jefferson High School and Portland Community College were also placed on lockdown for about two hours before resuming classes, and streets around Rosemary Anderson were blocked off.

Rosemary Anderson is an alternative high school serving up to 190 students, many of whom are homeless or who had been expelled or dropped out of Portland's public high schools, according to the school website.