The shooting at Procter R. Hug High School was first reported at around 11.30am, resulting in a 'code red' lockdown, though the scene was considered stable and secure, Washoe County School District spokesman Riley Sutton stated.
This is the disturbing moment a knife-welding teenager lunges at his classmates in the schoolyard before being shot by cops.
The 14-year-old boy, who has not been identified, was reported in critical condition Wednesday night at a Reno hospital, Police Chief Jason Soto said.
Police had initially declined to confirm reports immediately after the 11:30 a.m. shooting that the teen had been armed with a knife.
But Soto told reporters at a news conference at police headquarters on Wednesday night that he was 'armed with at least one knife and threatening other students' during a fight at the high school in a working class neighborhood on the city's north side.
The armed student failed to comply with the school police officer's verbal commands to drop the knife, and the officer ultimately fired his service weapon, 'striking the student and ... stopping the threat,' Soto said.
'Once the threat was stopped, the officer immediately began to provide medical aid to the student until emergency medical assistance arrived,' Soto said. He refused to take any questions.
Earlier, one high school freshman Robert Barragan first told the Reno Gazette-Journal that an officer shot a student in the shoulder after the teen pulled a knife and stabbed a classmate during a confrontation outside the school library.
Barragan, told the Gazette-Journal that two male students were fighting outside the school library when the campus officer shot the knife wielding teenager.
However there were no reported injuries other than the unidentified 14-year-old.
Hug High School was placed under lockdown and the 14-year-old was taken to Renown Regional Medical Center where he was in critical condition with a gunshot wound.
The lockdown was lifted by mid-afternoon and students were released to their parents.
A regional officer-involved shooting team led by Reno police interviewed the campus officer, who was placed on routine paid administrative leave, Reno police officer Tim Broadway said.
Broadway told reporters earlier Wednesday that more than 40 students witnessed the incident, including many who shot cellphone video that police want to see before the public.
'There's multiple videos out there,' said Broadway, the department spokesman. 'There's some very disturbing video out there. But there are other events that led up to this incident, so please don't react to those.'
School district officials said classes would resume as scheduled on Thursday.
'Counselors will be available for any student or staff member who needs assistance,' School Superintendent Traci Davis said in a statement.
Nevada Department of Public Safety director James Wright confirmed that a 14-year-old was wounded and taken to Renown Hospital Medical Center after he was shot by a campus police officer.
Several videos have since emerged on social media purporting to show the chaotic moments leading up to the shooting and its bloody aftermath. Daily Mail could not confirm the authenticity of the recordings in question.
In one video, a teenage boy dressed in a T-shirt is seen brandishing a large knife during what appears to be a school fight.
In another recording shared on Twitter, the same teen is seen writhing in pain on the ground while holding onto his neck, with a campus officer pointing a gun at him.
The district issued a statement before 1pm calling the campus 'currently stable and secure with heavy police presence.'
Broadway said students would be released later in the day, and parents were directed to a staging area.
Hug High opened in 1968 and is named for Proctor Ralph Hug Jr., a former teacher, athletic coach and Washoe County School superintendent who served as a state senator and a federal judge.