Girl shot at Maryland high school still in critical condition

GREAT MILLS, MD. — A teenage boy wounded in the latest school shooting was released Wednesday from a hospital, while a 16-year-old classmate was still fighting for her life in critical condition.

The shooter, a 17-year-old student identified as Austin Rollins, was killed Tuesday morning at Great Mills High School in a coastal swath of southern Maryland where many families have military ties. The town in St. Mary’s County, with a population of about 110,000, is about 65 miles from Washington, D.C.

Police say the 17-year-old boy used his father’s gun in an attack at his Maryland high school.

The St. Mary’s County sheriff ’s office said investigators have determined that the handgun that Austin Rollins used was legally owned by his father.

The sheriff ’s office also says that Rollins and a 16-yearold girl he shot “had a prior relationship which recently ended.” Jaelynn Willey remains in critical condition at a hospital.

A day after the eruption of gun violence in one of the sleepy community’s schools, the few residents who ventured out amid a snowstorm blanketing the East Coast praised a school resource officer who responded inside of 60 seconds and fired off a shot at the attacker.

“He did a very, very good job,” said Sharon Eglinton, manager of a cafe in nearby Leonardtown.

It was not yet clear whether Rollins took his own life or was killed by the officer’s bullet, nor was it clear how the 14-year-old boy was wounded. But St. Mary’s County Sheriff Tim Cameron credited Deputy First Class Blaine Gaskill with preventing any more loss of life.

Cameron said Gaskill, a sixyear veteran with SWAT team training, responded within a minute and fired his weapon simultaneously with a final shot fired by Rollins. The officer was unharmed.

Authorities didn’t release a motive but said they believe the girl and Rollins previously had some type of relationship. The girl’s family has identified her as Jaelynn Willey, one of nine siblings.

A spokeswoman for the University of Maryland Prince George’s Hospital Center said Wednesday that the 16-yearold girl remained in critical condition.

People who knew Rollins were trying to make some kind of sense of Tuesday’s hometown horror.

“Never in a million years could I have imagined he would do something like this. I was in the car when I heard it was him. I pulled over and almost puked,” said Adlai Traver, 18, who knew all three kids involved in the shooting.