|
Police:
Student
gunman
died of
self-inflicted
shot
By DOUG
ESSER
Associated
Press
MARYSVILLE,
Wash. -
A
student
opened
fire
Friday
in a
high
school
cafeteria
north of
Seattle,
killing
at least
one
person
and
shooting
several
others
in the
head
before
killing
himself,
officials
said.
Students
in the
cafeteria
said the
gunman
stared
at the
students
as he
shot
them.
They
described
a
chaotic
scene at
Marysville
Pilchuck
High
School,
as
panicked
students
ran for
safety.
Student
Alan
Perez
told
KING-TV
he was
eating
his
lunch
near the
gunman
when he
heard
the
shots.
"He had
a little
gun in
his
hand. I
saw the
flash
from the
muzzle,"
Perez
said.
Another
student,
Austin
Taylor,
told the
station
the
shooter
"was
just
staring
down
every
one of
his
victims
as he
shot
them."
Cedar
Parker,
a
17-year-old
senior,
told The
Associated
Press he
was
driving
away
from
campus
for
lunch
when he
saw
students
running
and
trying
to jump
a fence.
Parker
let
several
into his
car. He
heard
other
students
yelling
for
their
friends:
"Where
are
you?"
Parker
said
choosing
not to
eat in
the
cafeteria
saved
his
life.
The
shooter
was a
student
at the
school
30 miles
north of
Seattle,
but
Marysville
Police
Commander
Robb
Lamoureux
said he
could
not
provide
more
information
on the
gunman
or his
motive.
Lamoureux
said the
shooter
died of
a
self-inflicted
wound.
Brian
Patrick
said his
daughter,
a
freshman,
was in
the
cafeteria
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."
His
other
daughter,
a senior
at the
school,
called
him
`hysterical'
from her
classroom,
Patrick
said.
"I
thought,
`God let
my kids
be
safe,"
he said.
Four
students
were
taken to
Providence
Everett
medical
center,
said
hospital
spokeswoman
Heidi
Amrine.
Three
were in
"very
critical"
condition.
It was
not
immediately
clear if
the
person
who died
was one
of those
students.
Harborview
Medical
Center
in
Seattle
said it
received
a
14-year-old
male
student,
who was
listed
in
serious
condition.
After
the
attack,
a crowd
of
parents
waited
in a
parking
lot
outside
a nearby
church
where
they
were
being
reunited
with
their
children.
Buses
pulled
up
periodically
to drop
off
students
evacuated
from the
school,
with
some
running
to hug
their
mothers
or
fathers.
Some
parents
were
sent
back to
their
cars to
get
their
identifications
before
they
could
leave
with
their
children.
Ayn
Dietrich,
an FBI
spokeswoman
in
Seattle,
said the
agency
had
personnel
on their
way to
the
scene to
help
authorities
with the
investigation.
Another
shooting
occurred
June 5
at
Seattle
Pacific
University,
where a
gunman
killed
one
student
and
wounded
two
others.
|