Two Students Dead in Nearby High Shooting

 Update: the shooter has been reported as committing suicide.  He was a freshman and played football.  He had been voted freshman homecoming king.  He was very close to his family and involved within his community.  Some are saying it was over a girl who had rejected him.

It is reported that many students either ran from the scene in the cafeteria or ducked under tables when the shots rang out.  

There will be a vigil at a church in Marysville tonight. 

End of update.

The Times is reporting a shooting this morning at 10:45 am at Marysville-Pilchuck High school in the cafeteria.  Four other people were wounded, three of them are in serious condition.  The school has 1200 students.  Some evacuated were walked from the building with their hands up, others locked themselves in classrooms.

A parent's nightmare:

Jery Holston has two children in the school now communicating with him by cellphone. They are both OK. Adam is a freshman; Kayliegh is a senior.

Holston said Adam called him this morning yelling, “Dad, dad, hurry, someone is shooting. Please come.” He said his son ran and hid outside in the field by the stadium.

Jery was in Stanwood at the time. “I probably did a hundred miles per hour to get there. I didn’t stop for anything. My heart went into my stomach. As a father, this has been my fear since my kids have been in school, that something like this would happen.”

Marysville is among three school districts recently chosen to share a $10 million federal grant for improved student mental-health services, which have been identified as a pressing need. Administrators were working on plans for the money just as news came about the shooting Friday morning.

Absolutely key:

Jerry Jenkins, who supervises Marysville and several other districts said, “The tragedy that happened in Marysville could  have happened anywhere. We used to have a much greater social safety net. Marysville has been willing to sit down and work with mental health providers to get mental health services to kids who need it, even though that is not a school’s traditional role.”

Our teachers and administrators are NOT cops or mental health specialists.  That social safety net got reduced under both school fund cuts and local/state cuts because of the recession.

When people say that they won't vote for 1351 because "there's no room in the building for more teachers," they forget that relationships are made throughout the school, not just the classroom. The counselors, librarians and nurses (among others) who are not in our schools are part of 1351.

Clearly, our students need supports.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Teen shooter in U.S. high school identified Jaylen Fryberg, a football-playing Native American.

sad
Why was identifying the shooter as Native American important?

Just wondering.
Anonymous said…
Not sure. It looks like he was well liked and a very good football player and CNN thought it was important to include the Native American identification? The story said, he was upset over a girl and some tweets? or was it her tweets?

I don't tweet, so I have no idea.
Maybe tweets should be banned along with guns.

sad
mirmac1 said…
OMG!! I can't process this! We need a village, a community to raise a child!
Anonymous said…
Some reports say he was popular but also bullied for being Native American. HP
Anonymous said…
He was on twitter pictured with a rifle "Probably the best BirthDay present ever! I just love my parents!!!! (sic)" he posted in a message accompanying the photo of him proudly holding the gun.
His birthday gift - probably the weapon he killed himself and shot his friends with.
I feel for his parents and what they must be going through (and of course the other families).
But let this be a lesson.
Teenage years are a tumultuous time, especially nowadays.
Guns present kids with a permanent solution for what they don't realize is just a temporary problem.
Most of these high school shooters are not recognizably mentally ill, they are not insane - they are going through bad patch of teenage angst, they are troubled or confused or deeply unhappy or angry - as are many teens at some point. They shouldn't be dying and killing their friends but they are because they have access to guns.
Before we let teenagers get a full driver license there are a lot of steps to take - learners license, driving lesson, the driving test, restriction about alcohol and passengers. They don't just get given a car and off they go. Yeah, I know they're not the same - but is some ways they are. Both are potentially dangerous to self and others (although only one has the sole purpose of killing), both require a level of maturity to use appropriately, both are subject to numerous restrictions and laws regarding their operation (oh- wait, only one is). Anyway, I could go on. Allowing kids easy access to firearms, whether unintentionally or purposefully is a big risk.
No one thinks it's going to happen to them, or their kids, or their school - until it does.

MDA
Good job, MDA. I do not understand how folks forget how intense high school can be to a teen and allow them access to guns. If you want your teen to learn about guns and use them, fine.

But lock them up tight.
Anonymous said…
Oh that is a sad post may them RIP.

https://www.thelasthope.in/Services

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