School shooter invited victims to lunch

UPDATE: Snohomish County Sheriff Ty Trenary said at a Monday news conference that 15-year-old Jaylen Fryberg invited his five victims to lunch by text message and then shot them at their table Friday. Fryberg then committed suicide at the high school north of Seattle.

Detectives are going through numerous text messages and phone and social media records as part of an investigation that could take months, according to Trenary.

“The question everybody wants is, ‘Why?’” Trenary said. “I don’t know that the ‘why’ is something we can provide.”

UPDATE (Oct. 27, 3:01 p.m.): The Snohomish County medical examiner’s office officially released on Monday the names and causes of death of one of the victims and the gunman from Friday’s shooting at Marysville-Pilchuck High School north of Seattle.

Zoe R. Galasso, 14, died of a gunshot wound to the head Friday after being shot by Jaylen Fryberg, 15, who also died of a gunshot wound to the head. The medical examiner ruled his death a suicide.

Of the three other students who remain hospitalized, Nate Hatch, 14, who was shot in the jaw, was upgraded to satisfactory condition Monday. He remained in intensive care at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and was awake and breathing on his own, hospital spokeswoman Susan Gregg said. Andrew Fryberg, 15, was in critical condition and in intensive care at the same hospital. Both are cousins of Jaylen Fryberg. Shaylee Chuckulnaskit, 14, remained in critical condition and in intensive care at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.

UPDATE (Oct. 27, 8:42 a.m.): Fourteen-year-old Gia Soriano, who was wounded when a student opened fire at a Washington state high school Friday, died Sunday night, according to officials at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett

“We are devastated by this senseless tragedy,” her family said in a statement, read at a news conference by Dr. Joanne Roberts. “Gia is our beautiful daughter, and words cannot express how much we will miss her.”

Another girl, who had not been officially identified, was killed Friday when the shooter at Marysville-Pilchuck High School north of Seattle opened fire. The shooter, Jaylen Fryberg, died at the scene of a self-inflicted wound.

Three other students remain hospitalized. Fourteen-year-old Nate Hatch has shown some improvement, although he remained in serious condition and in intensive care at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Fifteen-year-old Andrew Fryberg also remained in critical condition and in intensive care at Harborview. Both are cousins of Jaylen Fryberg. Meanwhile, 14-year-old Shaylee Chuckulnaskit remained in critical condition and in intensive care at Providence.

Earlier Sunday, parents and students gathered at the high school’s gym for a community meeting, with speakers urging support and prayers and tribal members playing drums and singing songs. Fryberg was from a prominent Tulalip Indian tribes family.

“Our legs are still wobbly,” said Tony Hatch, a cousin of one of the injured students. “We’re really damaged right now.”

The high school will be closed this week.

UPDATE (Oct. 25, 3:19 p.m.): The school worker who confronted the gunman during yesterday’s shooting at Marysville-Pilchuck High School north of Seattle has been identified. Marysville Education Association president Randy Davis said Saturday that first-year social studies teacher Megan Silberberger was the one who tried to intervene.

UPDATE (Oct. 25, 1:40 p.m.): Detectives investigating Friday’s shooting at Marysville-Pilchuck High School just north of Seattle confirmed Saturday that a high school worker tried to stop the gunman who opened fire in a crowded school cafeteria, killing one girl and badly wounding four others.

Student Erick Cervantes told KIRO-TV that the worker, a woman, briefly “intercepted” the shooter who was trying to reload. Cervantes said the woman tried to move the gunman’s hand away before he shot himself.

Snohomish County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Shari Ireton said in a statement Saturday morning that the on-scene investigation at the school was finished. A .40-caliber handgun was recovered, which authorities believe was the weapon used in Friday’s shooting, Ireton said.

Brian Bennett, spokesman for the Seattle Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said his agency conducted a trace of the firearm and determined “the most recent purchaser of the gun.” He said he could not identify that person, adding it would be up to the local police to release that information.

Three of the shooting victims have head wounds and remain in critical condition Saturday. Two 14-year-old girls were at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, and were identified by the facility as Shaylee Chucklenaskit and Gia Soriano. Andrew Fryberg, 15, was at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, a hospital official said. Another victim, 14-year-old Nate Hatch, was listed in serious condition at Harborview, the hospital said. Andrew Fryberg, Hatch, and Jaylen Fryberg, who has been identified by a government official as the shooter, are cousins. Two other students were treated at the high school for minor wounds, authorities said.

UPDATE (Oct. 25, 9:35 a.m.): More details have emerged about the shooter and his victims in the aftermath of yesterday’s shooting at Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Marysville, Wash.

The shooter, Jaylen Fryberg, opened fire in the school’s cafeteria late Friday morning, a government official with direct knowledge of the shooting told The Associated Press. Witnesses described the shooter as methodical inside the cafeteria.

One girl was killed and four other students, including two of the Fryberg’s cousins, were seriously wounded before Fryberg fatally shot himself, witnesses, police, and relatives said.

Three of the victims had head wounds and were in critical condition. Two unidentified young women were at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, and 15-year-old Andrew Fryberg was at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, a hospital official said. Another victim, 14-year-old Nate Hatch, was listed in serious condition at Harborview, the hospital said. Family members told KIRO-TV that Andrew Fryberg and Hatch are cousins of Jaylen Fryberg.

According to students at the school, Jaylen Fryberg, a freshman football player who was named to the school’s homecoming court just one week ago, was well liked, generally happy, and social. But he had recently fought with a boy over a girl. On Wednesday, a posting on his Twitter feed read: “It won’t last … It’ll never last.” On Monday, another said: “I should have listened. … You were right … The whole time you were right.”

Shaylee Bass, a 15-year-old sophomore, said Fryberg remained upset about the incident over the girl, but the shooting stunned her. “He was not a violent person,” she said. “His family is known all around town. He was very well known. That’s what makes it so bizarre.”

Students and parents said Fryberg was a member of a prominent family from the nearby Tulalip Indian tribes. Ron Iukes, a youth counselor with the tribe, said, “They’re real good people, very loving. Jaylen was one of our good kids.”

Hundreds of people gathered to pray and sing at a service for victims and family members at The Grove Church in Marysville Friday night.

The Oak Harbor High School football team, which had been set to play Marysville-Pilchuck last night for the Wesco 3A North title, lined the front pew of the church in their purple jerseys. The game was canceled and Oak Harbor offered to give the win and the league title to Marysville-Pilchuck.

Pastor Nik Baumgart told the overflow crowd that there was no script for reacting to Friday’s events. “One moment we’re thinking, we can do this,” he said. “Another moment, we’re thinking, how can we do this?”

UPDATE (Oct. 24, 8:35 p.m.): A government official has identified the shooter at a Washington state high school as student Jaylen Fryberg.

The official, who has direct knowledge of the situation, spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Students and parents say Fryberg played on the Marysville-Pilchuck High School football team and was recently crowned as a Homecoming prince at the high school.

To clarify earlier reports on the victims, three of the people who were shot had head wounds and were in critical condition. Two young women were taken to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, and a 15-year-old boy was at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, hospital officials said.

Another victim, a 14-year-old boy, was listed in serious condition at Harborview as well, according to the hospital.

UPDATE (Oct. 24, 6:05 p.m.): Marysville Police Commander Robb Lamoureux said the shooter at a high school in this Washington community north of Seattle died of a self-inflicted wound. The gunman killed at least one person and shot several others in the head before killing himself. Lamoureux could not provide more information on the gunman or his motive.

Four Marysville-Pilchuck High School students were taken to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, said hospital spokeswoman Heidi Amrine. Three were in “very critical” condition. It still is not clear if the person who died was one of those students.

Harborview Medical Center in Seattle said it received a 14-year-old male student, who was listed in serious condition.

After the attack, parents waited in a parking lot outside a church near the school where they were being reunited with their children. Buses pulled up periodically to drop off students evacuated from the school, with some running to hug their mothers or fathers.

Ayn Dietrich, an FBI spokeswoman in Seattle, said the agency had personnel on their way to the scene to help.

OUR EARLIER REPORT (Oct. 24, 4:30 p.m.): A student gunman opened fire at a high school in Marysville, Wash., this afternoon, killing at least one person. The gunman also died, although it was not immediately clear whether he shot himself or was killed by law enforcement officers.

A spokesperson at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett confirmed three people from Marysville-Pilchuck High School arrived at the emergency room and were in critical condition. It’s not clear yet whether the victim who died was one of those patients.

Police went room-by-room through the school, about 30 miles north of Seattle, to make sure it was safe. But they believe the gunman, who has not been named, acted alone.

School officials evacuated students on buses to a nearby church parking lot, where they were reunited with their parents.

One student told The Seattle Times the shooting started as he was leaving the cafeteria.

“Everyone just started running,” said Adam Holston, 14, a freshman. “I could hear the gun shots and my heart was racing and we didn’t know what was going on.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.