Marysville school shooter described as ‘really good kid’
Oct 24, 2014, 2:50 PM | Updated: 9:52 pm
(Facebook)
The teen gunman who students say opened fire in the Marysville-Pilchuck High School cafeteria Friday morning is being described as “a really good kid,” He was reportedly angry about a recent breakup.
Numerous students and law enforcement sources have identified the shooter as Jaylen Fryberg, a 14-year-old freshman.
Fryberg was reportedly an extremely popular student who played on the freshman football team and was recently named a homecoming prince.
Here’s a video of the halftime ceremony:
Fellow student Austin Taylor, 14, tells KING 5 Fryberg gave no indication anything was wrong prior to the shooting.
“He was just calm during the whole thing and he was perfectly fine the day before. I remember talking to him. He seemed like the normal old kid that we all knew and everyone knew him as that kid and he was very nice.”
But Fryberg was reportedly angry about a recent break up with his longtime girlfriend.
A series of posts on his Twitter feed, including his last one from Thursday, indicate a troubled teen.
It breaks me… It actually does… I know it seems like I'm sweating it off… But I'm not.. And I never will be able to…😔😫😖
— Jaylen Fryberg (@frybergj) October 21, 2014
It won't last…. It'll never last….
— Jaylen Fryberg (@frybergj) October 23, 2014
A number of images on his social media accounts show a seemingly happy teen with his girlfriend, fishing and playing sports. An image on his Instagram feed that has since been taken down showed the beaming teen holding a new hunting rifle and thanking his parents for what he called probably the best birthday present ever.
Fryberg and his family are long-time, prominent members of the Tulalip Tribe. His grandfather is director of fish and wildlife at the tribe, The Seattle Times reports.
“He was well-liked,” Richard Young, who knows the Fryberg family and has a son at the high school, told the Times. “It’s just a big shock to everybody.”