1 dead, 1 held in school shooting near Spokane
Apparent motive for attack in Washington state was bullying, sheriff says. Gunman injures three others.
SEATTLE — One student was killed and three others were wounded when a fellow student described as obsessed with school shootings opened fire Wednesday morning at Freeman High School near Spokane, Wash., authorities said.
According to Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, the shooter tried to fire one gun, which jammed. He drew a second weapon and shot and killed a student who was trying to stop him. The shooter then moved down the school hallway, firing and striking three other students.
The sheriff said the shooter, now being held in a juvenile detention facility, was stopped and held by a “very courageous” school staff member.
The shooter’s apparent motivation was his being bullied by schoolmates, Knezovich said.
Classes had just begun about 10 a.m. — a “late start” day at the school — when the shooting began. Students ran for cover, and some were led to safety at nearby elementary and middle schools.
One student, in a tweet that included a picture of fellow students sitting on a classroom floor, said: “At Freeman elementary currently. I am a junior, evacuated from the high school. At least four shots.”
It appeared the gunman acted alone, but all Spokane public schools, the Central Valley School District and the Mead School District were placed on lockdown. After the suspect was taken into custody and classrooms were searched at the 327-student high school, Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer announced: “The threat from the shooter has been eliminated.”
Parents began showing up quickly at the school in the small suburban town of Rockford, near the Idaho border, where police and emergency units filled the streets.
Authorities did not identify the suspected shooter or detail the bullying that they said led to the attack. But according to Michael Harper, a 15-year-old sophomore quoted by the Associated Press, the suspect had been obsessed with school shootings.
Michael told the AP that some students alerted school counselors after the boy brought notes to campus at the beginning of the year saying he might get killed or jailed. Michael said that, as far as he knew, the suspect was not bullied and had many friends.
The names of the students shot were not released.