SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq ( AP) — An American gym teacher was killed today when a student in the crowded classroom pulled out a gun, shot the teacher and then as his terrified classmates fled the room, shot himself, officials and eyewitnesses said.

The incident marked a rare violent death of an American in the relatively peaceful Kurdish region, which has been largely immune from the chaotic violence that has defined the rest of Iraq since the U.S. invasion.

The quarrel broke out this morning at the Media School in Sulaimaniyah between the gym teacher and the student, identified as 18-year-old Biyar Sarwar, said city police spokesman Sarkawit Mohammed. During the argument, Mohammed said, Sarwar shot the teacher with a gun he had hidden in his clothes.

Mohammed said Sarwar then shot himself and died of the wounds later at a nearby hospital. Sulaimaniyah health director Retawit Hama Rashid confirmed Sarwar’s death.