Washington School Shooting Update: Jaylen Fryberg Invited Victims to Meet Him in Lunchroom
Shortly before opening fire at the Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Washington State on Friday, Jaylen Fryberg invited his five friends to meet him in the school's cafeteria. However, as they were sitting at a lunch table, he walked up behind them and opened fire in the crowded lunchroom, killing two and wounding three others.
Officials say that the 14-year-old shooter fatally shot his friend Zoe Galasso, 14, who died at the scene, and Gia Soriano who died in a hospital late Sunday night. He also wounded Shaylee Chuckulnaskit, 14, and his cousin Andrew Fryberg, 15, who are both in critical condition. His other cousin, Nate Hatch, 14, was is currently in satisfactory condition, reports CNN.
According to The Associated Press, the teen shooter was a well-liked athlete who played on the school football team. He was also recently crowned as the Freshman Class Homecoming Prince just one week ago. However, on Friday morning he brought a firearm to school and invited his five victims to sit at the same table right before the shooting.
"It's our understanding he (invited them) via texting," Snohomish County Sheriff Ty Trenary said on Monday, reports CNN.
A law enforcement official also told CNN that Fryberg took a selfie of himself holding a gun and sent it to his ex-girlfriend before the attack.
Fryberg also took his own life during the attack.
On Sunday, Nate Hatch tweeted from the hospital that he forgives his cousin.
"I love you and I forgive you jaylen rest in peace," Nate tweeted.
A motive for the shooting is still being investigated.
Although Fryberg appeared to be an avid outdoorsman who loved hunting and took pride in his Native American heritage, some recent tweets hinted that he wasn't entirely happy with everything in his life.
"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," he tweeted earlier this month. There are also reports that he and his girlfriend recently broke up.
He posted his final tweet last Thursday, which read, "It won't last.... It'll never last...."
A classmate named Jordan Luton added that Fryberg got into a fight with someone who "said something racist to him" a few weeks ago. According to a federal law enforcement source, he had been suspended after the fight.
Still, Fryberg's friends and peers say that the incident has taken them completely off guard.
"Nobody would have expected it from him," Luton said.
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