Student shoots up high school; 1 dead, 3 hurt

ROCKFORD, WASH. — A student who opened fire in a hallway at a Washington state high school Wednesday killed a classmate who confronted him and wounded three others before being stopped by a staff member, authorities said.

The suspect, whom a classmate described as being obsessed with previous school shootings, was taken into custody. The wounded victims were expected to survive, officials said.

The shooter brought two weapons to Freeman High School in Rockford, south of Spokane, but the first one he tried to fire jammed, Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich told reporters.

“He went to his next weapon,” Kzenovich said. “A student walked up to him, engaged him, and that student was shot. That student did not survive.”

The sheriff said the shooter fired more rounds down the hallway, striking the other students, before a school staffer could stop him. Kzenovich called it a courageous act that prevented further bloodshed.

Elisa Vigil, a 14-year-old freshman, said she saw one male student shot in the head and a female student wounded in the back.

Michael Harper, a 15-yearold sophomore, said the suspect had brought notes at the beginning of the school year saying he was going to do “something stupid” and might get killed or jailed. Some students alerted counselors, the teen said, but it wasn’t clear what school officials did in response.

Harper called the alleged shooter “nice and funny and weird” and said he had friends and had not been bullied.