Gunman, female student dead in Marysville-Pilchuck High School shooting
Oct 24, 2014, 10:06 PM | Updated: May 15, 2016, 10:13 pm
Police agencies and FBI organize outside Marysville High School Friday, Oct. 24, 2014, following a shooting earlier. A student walked into his Seattle-area high school cafeteria on Friday and without shouting or arguing, opened fire, killing one person and shooting several others in the head before turning the gun on himself, officials and witnesses said. (AP Photo/The Herald, Dan Bates)
(AP Photo/The Herald, Dan Bates)
Three teens continued to cling to life Saturday after a student recently crowned freshman class Homecoming prince walked into the cafeteria at Marysville-Pilchuck High School Friday morning and opened fire, killing one person and shooting four others — including two of his cousins — before turning the gun on himself.
Students said the gunman was staring at his victims as he shot them inside the cafeteria. The shootings set off a chaotic scene as students ran from the cafeteria and building in a frantic dash to safety.
The gunman was identified as student Jaylen Fryberg. Students and parents said Fryberg was a member of a prominent family from the nearby Tulalip Indian tribe and a freshman who played on the high school football team. He was introduced at a football game as a prince in the 2014 Homecoming court, according to a video shot by parent Jim McGauhey.
Marysville Police Commander Robb Lamoureux said the gunman died of a self-inflicted wound, but he could not provide more details.
Shaylee Bass, 15, a sophomore at the school, said Fryberg had recently gotten into a fight with another boy over a girl.
“He was very upset about that,” said Bass, who was stunned by the shooting.
“He was not a violent person,” she said. “His family is known all around town. He was very well known. That’s what makes it so bizarre.”
Three of the young people wounded remained in critical condition Saturday, and a fourth was in serious condition.
The three critically injured people had head wounds. Two 14-year-old girls were at Providence Everett Medical Center, and were identified by the facility as Shaylee Chucklenaskit and Gia Soriano. Fifteen-year-old Andrew Fryberg was at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, a hospital official said.
Another victim, 14-year-old Nate Hatch, was listed in serious condition at Harborview with a jaw injury. Family members said that Andrew Fryberg and Hatch are cousins of Jaylen Fryberg.
Witnesses described the shooter as methodical inside the cafeteria.
Lathan Bernard, 15, a sophomore at the high school, told KIRO Radio lunch had just started around 10:45 a.m. when the student walked in and opened fire in the cafeteria.
“I heard one shot followed by five more and I just looked at my friend and told him to run, and my heart started pumping, and my feet started moving. I just ran … I can’t even comprehend what just happened.”
KIRO Radio’s Tim Haeck said shaken students told him the lunchroom was pandemonium, with dozens rushing for doors and then jumping a fence to escape.
Brian Patrick said his daughter, a freshman, was 10 feet from the gunman when the shooting occurred. She ran from the cafeteria and immediately called her mother.
Patrick said his daughter told him, “The guy walked into the cafeteria, pulled out a gun and started shooting. No arguing, no yelling.”
A crowd of parents later waited in a parking lot outside a nearby church where they were reunited with their children. Buses pulled up to drop off students evacuated from the school. Some ran to hug their mothers and fathers.
Patrick said after the shooting that his other daughter, a senior at the school, was “hysterical” when she called him from her classroom.
“I thought, ‘God let my kids be safe,” he said.
Some students described Jaylen Fryberg as a happy, popular student, but social media accounts suggested he was struggling with an unidentified problem.
On Wednesday, a posting on his Twitter account read: “It won’t last … It’ll never last.” On Monday, another tweet said: “I should have listened. … You were right … The whole time you were right.”
Hundreds of people prayed and sang songs at a church vigil Friday night for victims and family members.
The Oak Harbor high school football team, which had been set to play Marysville later that night, lined the front row of Grove Church in their purple jerseys. The game was canceled and Oak Harbor offered to give the win to Marysville.
KIRO Radio’s Tim Haeck, Brandi Kruse, Chris Sullivan and MyNorthwest.com’s Alyssa Kleven, Josh Kerns, and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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