Kentucky school shooting leaves 2 dead, 17 injured
15-year-old suspect arrested, will face murder charges
BENTON, Ky. – A 15-year-old student opened fire Tuesday at a high school in rural Kentucky, killing two people and wounding a dozen more, authorities said.
Gov. Matt Bevin said five others suffered non-shooting injuries in the rampage and chaos that followed at Marshall County High School in Benton. Authorities believe all the victims were students, Bevin said.
He said the suspect would be charged with murder and attempted murder.
“This is a wound that will take a long time to heal,” Bevin said. “For some in this community it will never heal.”
The shooting took place in a common area of the school at 7:57 a.m. local time, before classes started, authorities said. The 911 call came in two minutes later. First responders reached the scene at 8:06 a.m., and the shooter was taken into custody “in a non-violent apprehension,” Bevin said.
A 15-year-old female student died at the scene and a 15-yearold male student died at a hospital, Bevin said. Marshall County Attorney Jeff Edwards said it did not appear the gunman targeted specific people. He called the scene “indescribable.”
“To walk in, the backpacks laying around. The phones laying around, going off ... it’s indescribable,” Edwards said. “I’ve been doing this for 25 years. It’s not like anything I’ve experienced in my life.”
State Police, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were on the scene.
Students were bused from the high school to a nearby middle school. Benton is a town of fewer than 5,000 people in western Kentucky, about 120 miles northwest of Nashville. Several victims were taken to the hospital at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
“This is a tremendous tragedy and speaks to the heartbreak present in our communities,” Bevin said. “It is unbelievable that this would happen in a small, close-knit community like Marshall County. As there is still much unknown, I encourage people to love on each other at this time.”
Marshall County High School is about 35 miles southeast of Heath High School in West Paducah, where on Dec. 1, 1997, Michael Carneal opened fire on a group of students. Carneal, 14, killed three people and wounded five others.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., who represents Benton, tweeted condolences to the Marshall community. “My thoughts & prayers go out to the students & faculty at Marshall County High School where there has been a tragic school shooting,” Comer said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said they were monitoring reports from the scene and thanked first responders for their efforts.