The news out of Red Lake easily overshadows anything happening at the Capitol or anywhere else in the state. Minnesota's second school shooting rampage in less than two years turns out to be the deadliest in the country since Columbine.

Ten people are dead after a student went on a shooting rampage at the high school on the Red Lake Indian Reservation Monday afternoon.

"A 17 year old boy went to his grandparents' home sometime Monday afternoon and shot his grandparents," said MPR's Dan Gunderson. "His grandfather was a long time tribal police officer. He then took the tribal police squad car. He took the weapons belonging to his grandfather, and he drove to the high school. He had two handguns apparently and a shotgun."

A teacher, a school security guard and five other students were killed before the gunman took his own life. Authorities say 12 people were wounded at the high school.

More details from the Star Tribune:

Floyd Jourdain Jr., Red Lake tribal chairman, said Monday was "without doubt, the darkest day in the history of our tribe."

The killing spree was the deadliest at a school in the United States since the 1999 killings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., in which 15 people died and 23 were wounded.

"Our community is in shock," Jourdain said. "Our thoughts and prayers go to the victims' families. We're a small town, and everybody is stunned."

Only the gunman and three of his victims have been identified. They were Weise's grandfather, Daryl Lussier, 58; Neva Rogers, 62, a teacher at the school, and Derrick Brun, 28, a school security officer.

The Pioneer Press relies on the Bemidji Pioneer for a chilling account of what happened during the shooting:

"You could hear a girl saying, 'No, Jeff, quit, quit. Leave me alone. What are you doing?' " one student, Sondra Hegstrom, told The Pioneer of Bemidji. Hegstrom described the gunman grinning and waving at a student his gun was pointed at, then swiveling the gun to shoot someone else.

"I looked him in the eye and ran in the room, and that's when I hid," Hegstrom said.

Ashley Morrison, another student, took refuge in a classroom, her mother told The Pioneer. With the shooter banging on the door, Morrison dialed her mother on her cell phone. Her mother, Wendy Morrison, said she could hear gunshots on the line.

"Mom, he's trying to get in here, and I'm scared," Ashley Morrison told her mother.

One student said the shooting continued for nearly a half-hour and that she hid in a classroom adjacent to where police say most of the bodies were found. The student said she lost a close friend in the rampage.

"You could hear people screaming and sobbing," she said.

The main questions now are likely to revolve around why the student did this and whether there were signs that should have drawn more attention. At first glance there may have been. The Pioneer Press reports the student was... :

...a sophomore who enjoyed Marilyn Manson music and had expressed his admiration for Adolf Hitler on various online forums....

In a couple of postings to a nationalist forum last year, he eerily foreshadowed Monday's events. He claimed last April that authorities had questioned him about alleged plans to "shoot up the school on 4/20, Hitlers (sic) birthday."

On Internet sites Weise sometimes used the names "Todesengel'' — German for "angel of death'' — or "NativeNazi."

Of course as MPR's Gunderson notes, any answer to why this happened may have ended when the 17-year-old took his own life.

Red Lake is one of the bands that would be a partner with the state in a Twin Cities casino under a plan proposed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. a hearing on the plan scheduled at the Capitol Tuesday was cancelled. Pawlenty issued this statement about the shooting:

"With profound sorrow, the First Lady and I extend our heartfelt prayers and condolences to the families who lost loved ones in this senseless tragedy. We ask Minnesotans to help comfort the families and friends of the victims who are suffering unimaginable pain by extending prayers and expressions of support."

Sen. Norm. Coleman also issued a statement:

"Laurie and I send our heartfelt prayers and sympathies to the family and friends of those lost and injured today in Red Lake and to all those touched by this tragedy. May God's mercy and healing come to this grieving community. Know that all of Minnesota mourns with you in this time of sorrow."

Many more questions than answers as I write this Tuesday morning. Stay with MPR on the radio and Web throughout the day for more.