Jaylen Fryberg: Seattle High School Shooting Suspect Left Ominous Hints Online
Jaylen Fryberg has been identified as the Seattle school shooting suspect, who police say opened fire inside a cafeteria at Marysville Pilchuck High School, killing at least two.
Fryberg was identified by both local Seattle and national media on Friday afternoon, and a high school coach confirmed that Fryberg, a freshman, was the suspect who police say took his own life.
Though police have not yet discussed a possible motive, a Twitter account listed to Jaylen Fryberg revealed a series of tweets referring to relationship problems.
Did you forget she was my girlfriend?
— Jaylen Fryberg (@frybergj) September 19, 2014
The final tweet posted by Jaylen Fryberg was more ominous.
It won’t last…. It’ll never last….
— Jaylen Fryberg (@frybergj) October 23, 2014
Reports of the shooting at Marysville Pilchuck High School first emerged at 10:45 a.m. local time on Friday. The Seattle Times reported that there were ambulances responding for multiple injuries, and that the school was being placed on lockdown.
Students were seen being evacuated from the school into nearby fields, walking out of the building with their hands raised. Some were taken to a nearby church, while others were kept in locked classrooms inside the school. Within one hour, the Seattle Times reported that suspect Jaylen Fryberg, who was the unnamed, was dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Reports have said that as many as six people were injured, and reports from a Seattle area hospital indicated that some were serious.
BREAKING: ER nurse in WA confirms 3 have arrived w/ gunshot wounds, 1 in the head; 4th expected after school shooting near Seattle – @CBSLA
— NewsBreaker (@NewsBreaker) October 24, 2014
Witnesses described a chaotic scene. One student locked inside a classroom contacted CNN by phone, saying that the shooting began in a cafeteria. The student said many students believed it was a fire drill until teachers told everyone to run into classrooms for safety.
Students initially thought Seattle-area school shooting was a fire drill http://t.co/6AgLLF20FC pic.twitter.com/1LoDLxU9Uk
— KTLA (@KTLA) October 24, 2014
Medeana Johnson, mother of a boy who is a junior at the school, also Seattle’s KIRO that her son said a boy opened fire near the cafeteria.
Jery Holston, who has two children at Pilchuck High School, said his son Adam called him this morning yelling, “Dad, dad, hurry, someone is shooting. Please come.” Holston said his son hid outside in the field by the school’s stadium.
“I never thought I would be standing here after a school shooting,” said Heather Parker, who has a son at Pilchuck High School. “He’s pretty shook up. He just said ‘I’m okay.’ He was trying to calm me down.”
Though initial reports indicated that another suspect could be in custody, police later said Seattle high school shooting suspect Jaylen Fryberg worked alone. Marysville police spokesman Robert Lamoureux told reporters that police “are confident that there is only one single shooter.”
Police have not discussed a possible motive for Seattle high school shooting suspect Jaylen Fryberg, or released names of those killed at Marysville Pilchuck High School. Pictures have circulated online showing Fryberg holding a long gun.
