Armed officer stops Maryland school shooter

GREAT MILLS, Md. — A teenager armed with a handgun shot and critically wounded a girl inside a Maryland school on Tuesday and the shooter was killed when a school resource officer confronted him moments after the gunfire erupted. A third student was in good condition after he was shot.

In Maryland, it wasn’t immediately clear whether the shooter took his own life or was killed by the officer’s bullet, St. Mary’s County Sheriff Tim Cameron said, though the officer was credited with preventing any more loss of life.

Authorities didn’t release a motive, but said they believe the girl and the shooter — 17-year-old Austin Rollins — previously had a relationship. It wasn’t clear how the 14-year-old boy was wounded.

The officer was unharmed. Police did not identify the victims, but the family of 16-year-old Jaelynn Willey, a sophomore at Great Mills, confirmed that she had been shot.

Jaelynn is one of nine siblings, according to a statement from the family, and a member of the swim team.

“Jaelynn is an amazing young lady, whose peaceful presence and love of her fellow students and family is known throughout her Maryland-based school,” the family statement said.

A fundraiser for the family on the youcaring.com website had already raised more than $25,000 by Tuesday evening.

Politicians responded swiftly to the shooting about 65 miles (105 kilometers) southeast of Washington.

In this case, it appeared the shooter illegally possessed the gun.

The sheriff praised the school resource officer, Deputy First Class Blaine Gaskill, a six-year veteran in his first year at the high school, for ending the threat in less than a minute.

“He had to cover significant ground,” Cameron said. “The premise is simple: You go to the sound of gunfire.”

Students endured a lengthy lockdown, cowering inside classrooms and a locker room while officers worked to make sure there were no more threats on campus.