USA TODAY International Edition
Gunman dies as two are hurt at Md. high school
A student gunman opened fire Tuesday at a high school in southern Maryland, injuring two students before an armed school resources officer intervened, authorities said.
The gunman, identified as Austin Wyatt Rollins, 17, was killed, but St. Mary’s County Sheriff Tim Cameron said it was not immediately clear whether the school officer fired the fatal shot or if the gunman killed himself.
The attack began shortly before classes were scheduled to start at Great Mills High, a 1,500-student school 65 miles south of Washington. Cameron said Rollins was armed with a Glock, semiautomatic handgun when he shot a 16-year-old female student in a hallway. A 14-year-old male student also was shot.
“Our school resource officer was alerted to the events,” Cameron said. “He engaged the shooter and fired a round; subsequently the shooter fired a round as well.”
Cameron said it was not clear whether the gunman shot himself or fired at the resource officer, identified as Deputy First Class Blaine Gaskill.
The female student was hospitalized in critical condition, and the male student was in stable condition, Cameron said. Gaskill, who was not injured, followed protocol, Cameron added.
“This is what we prepare for, this is what we pray we will never have to do,” Cameron said. “The notion that this can’t happen here is no longer a notion.”
Cameron said the shooter and the female victim had a prior relationship. Authorities were reviewing social media posts to “piece together” a possible motive for the shooting, he said. He asked that no one jump to conclusions until the investigation is concluded.
“We are a tight-knit community,” Cameron said. “What I would ask our community to do is pray for the victims.”
The shooting took place less than a week after some Great Mills students joined tens of thousands of students across the nation in a walkout to protest gun violence. The walkout was spearheaded by survivors of the Valentine’s Day rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., that killed 17 students and faculty.
Parkland teens expressed solidarity Tuesday with the students at Great Mills on Twitter.
“Less than a WEEK ago Great Mills High School students walked out with us to protest gun violence ... now they’re experiencing it for themselves,” tweeted Jaclyn Corin. “The state of our country is disgusting - I’m so sorry, Great Mills.”
Tweeted Emma González: “We are Here for you, students of Great Mills together we can stop this from ever happening again.”