Two people have been killed and 17 injured after a 15-year-old student opened fire inside his rural Kentucky high school.

Police were seen leading the teenager away in handcuffs after the attack at Marshall County High School, which was America’s first fatal school shooting of 2018.

The shooter will be charged with murder and attempted murder, according to Kentucky police.

“He was apprehended by the sheriff’s department here on site, at the school, thankfully before any more lives could be taken,” officer Michael Webb said.

Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin confirmed the suspect was a 15-year-old boy.

#MarshallCounty High Shooting: "The KSP has been in this area recently teaching the faculty how to respond to an active shooter situation. The students and faculty did everything they were trained to do" -KSP Commissioner Rick Sanders

— KY State Police (@kystatepolice) January 23, 2018

Of the 17 injured, Governor Bevin said 15 of those were suffering gunshot wounds, after students ran for their lives when shooting began inside an atrium just before classes commenced.

Student were seen jumping into cars or running down the highway, while parents left their cars along an adjacent road, desperately searching for their children.

“They was running and crying and screaming,” said Mitchell Garland, who provided shelter to between 50 and 100 students inside his nearby business.

“They was just kids running down the highway. They were trying to get out of there.”

A 15-year-old girl died at the scene, and a boy, also 15, died later at a hospital, Mr Bevin said.

“This is a wound that is going to take a long time to heal,” Mr Bevin said.

– with wires