School Shooter Shot 2 of His Cousins

Jaylen Fryberg was reportedly upset about a girl
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 25, 2014 7:41 AM CDT
School Shooter Near Seattle Shot 2 Cousins
Student Jaylen Fryberg is seen during a homecoming celebration at Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Marysville, Wash., on Oct. 17.   (AP Photo/Jim McGauhey)

Two of the five classmates that 14-year-old Jaylen Fryberg shot yesterday at his high school north of Seattle were his cousins, reports CNN. Nate Hatch, 14, and Andrew Fryberg, 15, remain in critical condition with gunshot wounds to the head, reports KOMO-TV. "All three of them are cousins, and they live right close to each other," says a relative. Two unidentified girls also remain hospitalized after being shot in the head. Jaylen, by all accounts a popular boy who was a member of the Tulalip tribal family, fatally shot another girl before killing himself in the cafeteria of Marysville-Pilchuck High School. One witness says a female teacher tried to take the gun from him during the shooting, reports KIRO-TV. Jaylen reportedly pulled away from her and then shot himself.

Witness accounts say that the teen walked up to the table with the five victims, pulled a gun from his pocket, and began shooting. It remains unclear why, but most stories quote students who say he was distraught after breaking up with a girl. One tells the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that he had recently gotten into a fight with another boy over a girl. "He was very upset about that," she says. His last message on Twitter Thursday morning was, "It won't last ... It'll never last." Jaylen played on the school football team, but he was suspended last week after a fight, another student says, though he attributes it to the other student using a racial slur about him. A high school junior says he saw Jaylen the morning of the shooting. "He looked happy, everything seemed fine." (More school shooting stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X