New Delhi, Feb. 12 -- A 17-year-old stole a gun from police and opened fire at a public high school in southern Thailand, briefly taking people hostage Wednesday in a two-hour attack that killed one person and injured two others, police and local officials said.

Police also wounded the assailant in a gunbattle at the Patongprathankiriwat School in Songkhla province before taking him into custody to end the standoff, the provincial government said in a statement. The attack took place in late afternoon shortly after classes were dismissed.

The school's director died in a hospital in the early hours of Thursday after being severely wounded in the attack. A student was also wounded by gunshots, while another student was injured while jumpi...