Gunman had been quizzed by FBI
AZTEC, N.M. — A 21-yearold gunman who disguised himself as a student to get into a New Mexico high school where he killed two students had caught the attention of U.S. investigators more than a year ago, authorities said Friday. William Atchison, a former student at small-town Aztec High School, had legally purchased a handgun at a local store a month ago and planned the attack, authorities said. He left a message on a thumb drive found on his body that detailed his plan to wait until the students got off buses and made their way to class.
He mingled with students, then walked into school with them and went into a secondfloor bathroom to “gear up.” Atchison’s plan was to shoot up a classroom and then kill himself.
“Work sucks, school sucks, life sucks. I just want out of this (expletive),” he wrote.
Francisco I. Fernandez walked into the bathroom and became Atchison’s first victim, authorities said. The gunman then walked out into the hallway and encountered the second victim, Casey J. Marquez. He immediately killed her, too.
Atchison then walked up and down the hall, firing randomly, before killing himself, authorities said.
The shooter did not have a criminal record, much less a traffic ticket, officials said. The only contact with law enforcement was what they described as a generic message on an online gaming forum in 2016 in which he talked about what weapons might be used in a mass shooting.
The FBI said the posting was flagged and investigators talked with Atchison at his home in Aztec, where he lived with his parents. At the time, he did not own any weapons
other than an airsoft pellet gun and said he had no plans for an attack and just liked to troll sites online.
Authorities said heroes at the school helped save lives.
A substitute teacher heard the gunshots but didn’t have a key to lock the door to the computer lab. So she took students into an office or storage area and barricaded the door with a couch. Atchison came to the room and yelled that he knew they were in there and fired multiple shots into the room, authorities said.
A custodian also heard the gunshots and yelled for teachers to lock their doors.
Marquez was a cheerleader who “lit up pretty much any room we were all in,” said Bryn Divine, a senior at Aztec High School. “She was such a fun person to be around.”
Fernandez was known for his interest in computers and his speed on the keyboard. His family has said he had a bright future.