Marysville school shooting: 4 hurt, 2 dead, including gunman

MARYSVILLE, Wash. — Quick Facts:

• 14-year-old gunman dead, 1 female victim dead
• Gunman, Jaylen Fryberg, was freshman at school
• 4 students injured, 3 critically
• 2 students treated for minor injuries at the school.
• 2 victims were cousins of gunman
• Students evacuated from school
• FBI involved in investigation
• All victims under 18-years-old

One victim and a 14-year-old student gunman died in a school shooting at Marysville-Pilchuck High School on Friday. Four other students were injured. The victim killed was a young girl.

Marysville police received the original 911 phone call from an anonymous cell phone at 10:39 a.m.

The gunman, identified by his family as 14-year-old Jaylen Fryberg, opened fire in the school cafeteria.  Fryberg, a freshman at the school, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Marysville Police Commander Robb Lamoureux.

A student said a teacher grabbed Fryberg's arm during the shooting in an effort to stop him, and Fryberg shot himself in the neck during the struggle.

Authorities believe a .40-caliber Beretta handgun was the weapon used. Investigators successfully traced the origin of the gun and report it was legally acquired.

Of the four victims, two 14-year-old female students, Shaylee Chuckulnaskit and Gia Soriano, remain at Providence Regional Hospital in Everett in critical condition with gunshot wounds to the head.

Shaylee’s uncle told KIRO 7 that he wasn’t sure she’d make it.

Both female victims at Providence were out of surgery and in the Intensive Care Unit by Friday evening.

Two other victims were transported from Providence to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.  A 15-year-old boy was identified as Andrew Fryberg, the gunman's cousin. The second victim was identified as 14-year-old Nate Hatch, also a cousin of the gunman. Hatch suffered a gunshot wound to his jaw. Nate Hatch and Andrew Fryberg were at Providence in critical but stable condition as of Saturday afternoon.

Nate Hatch’s grandfather told KIRO 7 he “forgives” the shooter.

Two students were treated at the high school for minor injuries and released.

See photos from the scene here.

Students were painstakingly evacuated by officers when it was determined to be safe.  Some walked across a lawn with their hands up. Others were seen running through the school parking lot.

Evacuated students were taken by bus to Shoultes Gospel Hall at 116th Street Northeast and 51st Avenue Northeast, where a crowd of parents waited in the parking lot to be reunited with their children.

Buses pulled up periodically to drop off students. Some students ran to hug their mothers or fathers.

Approximately 30 students and staff that witnessed the shooting worked closely with authorities. An FBI spokesperson in Seattle said the agency would help authorities with the investigation.

Jaylen Fryberg, 14-years-old, confirmed as shooter

The gunman, Jaylen Fryberg, sent a message from his Twitter account on Thursday that said, "It won't last...it will never last."  KIRO 7 confirmed with sources close to him that the shooting was sparked by a breakup with a girl.

Judd Luton, parent of a Marysville-Pilchuck student, said his son Jordan said Jaylen went through a recent breakup and was distraught. Jordan said he didn’t believe Jaylen targeted specific students in the cafeteria.

A source said Fryberg was suspended from school the week before the shooting, for his involvement in a fight, and that Fryberg had been bullied.

A Crossfit coach at the school described Fryberg as happy-go-lucky and ambitious. Fryberg was a member of the Tulalip Tribe who was interested in hunting.   A fellow student said Fryberg seemed happy and was talking to other students a few hours before the shooting.

Fryberg was also recently voted into his high school’s Homecoming Court.

A boy who knew Fryberg said he sent text messages to his family asking them to take care of things after he was gone.

Accounts from inside the school

Multiple students and a teacher reported hearing gunshots.  KIRO 7 received emails and texts from relatives of students at the school, shortly after the shooting occurred.

Angelo Contraro, first cousin of Jaylen Fryberg, and his friend Cody were thrown in handcuffs yesterday after the shooting. Contraro told KIRO 7 police came in suddenly where the two had been hiding during the shooting and threw them in handcuffs.

Contraro says he isn’t sure why police handcuffed them and that after some questioning, he and his friend were released.

Contraro said he was at PE when shots rang out. He said he knew his cousin Jaylen as a good guy and told KIRO 7, “I only ever saw my cousin’s good side. Never thought I would see his bad side.”

Contraro had talked to Andrew Fryberg just earlier that day, and said Andrew was in good spirits.

"Our son just called to let us know that his kids are OK - his son was about 50 feet from the shooter - a student that he knows.  Our grandson and his friends ran away - jumped a fence and went to a home in the area.  He didn't know about any victims but thought there was at least one," said Tom Hopper in an email to KIRO 7.

A student at the school, Rigo Perez, described what happened over the phone as he was inside the school.

“We just got evacuated by police to a church nearby.  I did not see the gunman. I was in the student store and it’s right next to the cafeteria, and then out of nowhere, we heard the shooting. We didn’t think it was nothing. We thought it was someone throwing down something, and then we saw everyone running out and we automatically knew it was a shooting. We ran into a back room and Mr. Miller helped us with getting all safe,” said Perez.

Casey Blakley and his daughter were driving by the school when they saw the huge police response.

“About every 30 seconds I had to pull over because there were so many cops and paramedics going by,” he said. “The road was blocked off from about two blocks away."

“There were a bunch of kids on the next block that apparently fled the school. They were all huddled together talking to cars that drove by.”

Freshman Angel Jones told KIRO 7 Jaylen Fryberg was in her first period Introduction to Marketing class.

"I didn't talk to him today but he was acting normal, fine. Did all his work and everything," Jones said.

Like many of her classmates, Jones did not see the violence coming.

"He was just a nice, friendly guy and I would never expect him to do anything along these lines ever," Jones said.

One teacher told KIRO 7 the shooting happened 100 feet from his classroom.

He saw a new first-year Social Studies teacher named Megan Silberberger try to intervene. He says she didn't get shot but was covered in blood.

Students ran into his classroom, and they went on lockdown with 24 people inside.

The high school drills for lockdown once or twice each year, but the teacher didn’t remember having done a drill this past year.

The teacher stayed in the classroom with his kids for about two hours and 45 minutes. The kids were calm, but began crying when the SWAT team arrived.

'We will all go home tonight and cry'

Dr. Joanna Roberts, the Chief Medical Officer at Providence Everett, briefed reporters throughout the afternoon on the four young patients they treated in their critical care unit. A team lead by 25 doctors rushed to keep them alive.  All had wounds to the head. “Stopping bleeding. Head bleeding,” Dr. Roberts said, describing where doctors and nurses focused their efforts. “It’s stopping -decompressing - any brain swelling that may be starting to occur.”

By Friday evening, two patients had been sent to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, but the most critical, two young women were still being treated at Providence.

Presciently, the hospital’s emergency room had recently held a drill for this very scenario.

“About two months ago we actually choreographed and rehearsed this very episode,” Roberts said. “We put together a scenario where there was a local school shooting, injured children coming though. So, as horrible as this situation is, we really were prepared for it.”

But even drills, she indicated, don’t prepare staffers for the emotional trauma. “I will tell you we will all go home tonight and cry,” Roberts said.

A vigil was held at Grove Church, 4705 Grove Street in Marysville on Friday night, from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Grief counseling was offered by the Marysville School District Friday night from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and was offered again on Saturday morning from 9:00 a.m. to noon, at 4220 80th Street NE in Marysville.

Marysville-Pilchuck High School will be closed for the entire week of October 27^th out of respect for the victims.

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KIRO 7 reporters Natasha Chen, Amy Clancy, David Ham, Deborah Horne, Graham Johnson, Nick McGurk, Rob Munoz, Essex Porter, Henry Rosoff, Linzi Sheldon, Joanna Small and digital producer Maggie Nicholson contributed to this story that was composed by digital content producer Colleen West.

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