EL MATON - Allison Camacho, a freshman at Tidehaven High School, was found dead in a girls' restroom on campus Friday morning. She died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said.

"(The shot) appears to be to the head," said Sheriff James Mitchell. He added that a .38 caliber Taurus revolver, which he said was "the size of my hand," was used.

Mitchell said the sheriff's office received a call from a staff member at Tidehaven High School at 8:33 a.m. requesting an ambulance.

"The caller said the student was bleeding and had been shot," Mitchell said.

Mitchell said it took the EMS less than 13 minutes to arrive at the school, but the 15-year-old girl was dead.

"The victim was pronounced dead at the scene," Mitchell said. Justice of the Peace Suzan Thompson ruled the shooting as a suicide.

Word of the shooting spread quickly.

"I was in the hall going to computer class, and a teacher told us to get inside the classroom and they locked us in," said senior Kirk Klicker, who said he didn't know Allison. "I never thought something like this would ever happen because the school is so small."

Freshman Amy Longoria, who was home sick for the day and heard about the incident from her mom, said Allison was "a quiet person and was to herself a lot."

Longoria arrived at the school with her mom to check on her cousins and friends. She joined a crowd of parents who were lining up outside to pick up their children.

"My daughter knew her and really everyone at the school knows everyone here and that makes this tragedy really traumatic," said Marie Woods, who was picking up her daughter who is also a freshman. "My daughter moved to Tidehaven from Bay City High School because there are too many fights at the school. We also moved here because her cousins are here."

Cindy Torres from Markham has two children at the school: Angelica is a sophomore and Tino is a senior. "I came here to pick my children up and make sure that they were safe," said Torres. "I came to comfort my kids. This is a very traumatic experience, and we will be praying for the family of the girl."

Mitchell said Allison was in band class when she asked if she could go to the restroom. When she didn't return after some time, another student was sent to check on her and found her.

Mitchell said there have been unconfirmed reports that the student had threatened suicide before. In addition, he said, "I can say we have reports that the victim had been depressed."

Counselors from Bay City, Van Vleck, Tidehaven and Palacios schools were called to the school and arrived within the hour to offer comfort to students.

Tidehaven school district Superintendent Tom Jones said about 275 students are enrolled at the school.

When asked if a student had ever brought a gun to the school before, Jones said, "Not to my knowledge."

As parents waited anxiously to enter the school to pick up their children, television helicopters hovered overhead and circled the campus as students looked out school windows. Only students whose parents came to the school to get them were allowed to leave.

"The school will stay in lockdown until we finish our investigation," Mitchell said Friday morning.

Jones said he isn't sure if the school will be open on Monday.

Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. today at Palacios Funeral Home, 701 First St.

Justin Buehler is a reporter for the Matagorda Advocate.

Ross Cunningham is a reporter and photographer for the Matagorda Advocate.