WALPOLE — The Walpole student who shot himself Friday is “out of surgery and is recuperating, but it's going to be a long haul,'' a relative said Saturday.

Hunter Mack, an eighth-grader at Walpole Elementary School, was in serious condition Saturday at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, said Ruth Mack, Hunter's aunt.

Hunter shot himself in the face in the school cafeteria about 11 a.m. Friday, authorities said. There were about 70 students in the cafeteria at the time.

He was taken by helicopter to Dartmouth-Hitchcock.

“We're traumatized here,” Ruth Mack said Saturday. “We're just praying and sending all our prayers to Hunter that he'll be all right after this.”

The school was open Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. for crisis counseling. In a message on the school website, officials said counseling would continue to be available in the coming weeks.

“Our heartfelt thanks go to the emergency and law enforcement personnel for their quick response and their collaboration with the district in dealing with this tragic event,'' the message said. “Please be assured the Walpole Elementary School and the Fall Mountain Regional School District will be doing everything we can to help families through this difficult time.”

Jamie Anastasio, whose daughter is a student at the school, said Saturday she grew up in Walpole and returned to raise her family in the small town.

“I think that this is an unfortunate event. I don't think this is an event that speaks of Walpole or the school,” she said. “I don't know what made him do this, but I absolutely feel safe letting my kids go to school.”

Shortly after 2 p.m. on Friday, Cheshire County Attorney Peter Heed held a news conference outside of the school.

“First of all, everyone is safe; there is no indication that there was anyone involved except this one young man,” Heed said. “Our thoughts go out to the family of this young man, and our thoughts go out to all of the students that were in the school at this time.”

Heed did not say what type of gun was used.

“The exact details are under investigation,” Heed said.

Laurie Phillips of Swanzey said she is Hunter's cousin and that her two stepchildren Nicholas, 13, and Casey, 14, are in the same grade as Hunter. Neither of the stepchildren were present during the shooting.

Nicholas and Casey's mother, Jen Graves of Walpole, said Hunter has had counseling and that about a month ago his neighbors were so concerned about him that they called police and all guns had been removed from his home.

“He just seemed frazzled last week when I saw him,” Graves said.

The shooting triggered a school lockdown Friday, and parents were notified to come to the school to pick up their children. By 1 p.m., parents and grandparents were still lined up outside of the school, anxiously waiting to pick up their children.

When parents arrived, they were asked to check in with police officers at the front doors of the school, on Bemis Lane.

Parents were then called in, one by one, into the school and came out soon after with their children.

Sixth-grader Gabby Anastasio came out of the school shortly before 2 p.m. with her mother, hugging her as they walked out together. Although Gabby had been in the cafeteria when the shooting took place, she did not see anything, she said.

“I didn't see much. I was really far away,” Gabby said. “It was kind of shocking.”

A visibly shaken Sam Jacobs, Walpole Middle School principal, told reporters Friday he was in the cafeteria when the shot was fired. Student reaction was “shock,” he said.

“Shock. And we're talking to as many as we can,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs said he could not answer questions about whether bullying had played a part in the shooting or confirm whether student reports that Hunter had been acting depressed last week were true.

He said the school had counselors inside the school working with students.

Heed complimented staff and students for their cooperation.

“We're very sad, and this is a tragic situation, but it's being handled as well as possible. I want to commend all the parents here, you look around here you see a lot of cooperation and calmness. A lot of that has to do with how the staff handled it and how law enforcement handled it,” Heed said.

Walpole Middle School teaches about 125 students in Grades 5 through 8 in the Fall Mountain Regional School District. Walpole is a small town with about 3,600 residents.