Shooting at Pine Bluff middle school leaves one in ‘serious condition’
Suspect in custody in ‘targeted’ attack’
PINE BLUFF — A student was seriously wounded Monday morning in a shooting at Watson Chapel Junior High School and the suspect, another student attending the school, was taken into custody, authorities said.
Pine Bluff Police Chief Kelvin Sergeant said during a news conference Monday afternoon that both the victim and the suspect were 15 years old.
After the victim was transported initially to Jefferson Regional Medical Center, he was transferred to Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock. Sergeant said Monday afternoon that the victim was in “very serious condition.”
Officers responded to a reported shooting at the school just before 10 a.m. Monday, according to the police chief, arriving at the scene at 10:02. Officers located a victim inside the building with an apparent gunshot wound, Sergeant said.
Only one person was injured in the shooting, Sergeant said. The chief said authorities believe the shooting was “an isolated … targeted incident, and not what we would call traditionally a active shooting.”
The school followed an active-shooter protocol, and officers worked to ensure the building was clear, he said. As officers cleared the classrooms, students were transferred to a gymnasium on campus.
Sergeant said that at the point in time when the shooting happened, students were changing classrooms. He said police did not know how many students were in the hallway at the time of the shooting, but other individuals were present.
In a series of Facebook posts beginning around 10:30 a.m. Monday, the Watson Chapel School District said there had been an incident at the junior high school, adding that the incident had been “contained.”
Campuses were placed on lockdown because of a shooting, and the Pine Bluff Police Department and Jefferson County sheriff's office were on the site to control the situation, the school district said in a post at 10:37 a.m.
The suspect, who Sergeant described as a Black male, was located hiding behind a house in the neighborhood of Watson Chapel Junior High School, the chief said. He was located by a dog team from the Arkansas Department of Corrections, according to Sergeant.
The suspect was being held Monday in the Jack Jones Juvenile Justice Center after being transported from the detective division of the Pine Bluff Police Department.
“We don't have a definite motive right now as to why the incident occurred,” Sergeant said. “However, we do believe that this was a targeted incident as opposed to a random incident.”
Sergeant said that to his knowledge, the suspect did not sustain injuries when he was apprehended after the dog team was used to track the suspect to the residence on a neighboring street.
Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Hunter told reporters that a decision about whether to hold a probable cause hearing in juvenile or adult court would be made in the next 36 to 48 hours.
Sergeant said he was unsure whether the Watson Chapel School District would be open Tuesday, but if it were additional officers would be on the scene and chaplains would be available for grief counseling.
Monday marked the first day of in-person learning for Watson Chapel students after an extended period of virtual instruction because of severe winter weather and related water issues in Pine Bluff.
Law enforcement personnel could be seen outside of the junior high school around noon Monday as a long line of drivers waited in vehicles, presumably to pick up students, after the shooting was reported.