An 18-year-old male has died and seven other students have been injured after two gunman opened fire in a science and technology school in a suburb of Denver, Colorado.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s department has said that two suspects, one adult and one juvenile are in custody.

The motive for the shooting is not yet clear, although both are believed to be former students at the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) School in Highlands Ranch.

Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said officers arrived at the school within two minutes of the initial reports of a shooting.

He said they found eight victims, some in a critical condition, who were taken to local hospitals. One later died of his wounds.

“Two individuals walked into the STEM school, got deep inside the school, and engaged students in two separate locations,” Sheriff Spurlock said.

The White House has offered its condolences to the victims and said the president was being kept informed of the situation.

“Our prayers are with the victims, family members, and all those affected by today’s shooting,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said.

As the incident unfolded students fled from the school buildings. Swat teams secured the area and snipers took up positions on neighbouring buildings.

Local resident Fernando Montoya said his 17-year-old son, a junior at STEM, was shot three times, and that one of his friends was also wounded.

Mr Montoya said his son told him that one shooter walked into his classroom and opened fire.

“He said a guy pulled a pistol out of a guitar case and started to shoot, he told ABC affiliate Denver 7.

Colorado has seen some of the worst mass shootings in recent US history, including the 1999 Columbine school massacre in which students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murdered 12 students and one teacher.

In 2012 James Eagan Holmes killed 12 cinema goers and injured nearly 70 in the Denver suburb of Aurora.

Tuesday’s STEM school shooting came one week to the day after a gunman opened fire on the Charlotte campus of the University of North Carolina, killing two people and wounding four others.

A 22-year-old former student of the university has been charged with murder and attempted murder.

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