Texas town holds prayer vigil for school shooting victim

UPDATE: School district officials in Italy, Texas, said Tuesday morning the 15-year-old victim of Monday’s shooting remains “in good spirits” at a Dallas hospital. Superintendent Lee Joffre met with the still unidentified girl, who asked him to send “a message of recovery and strength,” he told reporters. He declined to elaborate on her condition or the extent of her injuries. The 16-year-old suspect will have a preliminary hearing Wednesday. He remains in a juvenile detention facility and has not been charged.

OUR EARLIER REPORT (10:12 a.m.): Investigators in Texas have released few details about a small-town school shooting that left a 15-year-old girl with unspecified injuries Monday. Police arrested a 16-year-old boy soon after he opened fire with a .38-caliber handgun in the cafeteria of Italy High School shortly before 8 a.m. Authorities have not released the suspect’s name or any information about a possible motive for the shooting. The injured girl was the only victim. Ellis County Sheriff Chuck Edge said he didn’t know whether the two students knew each other. He also told reporters he didn’t know anything about the extent of the girl’s injuries. First responders sent her by air ambulance to a Dallas hospital. Another student at the school has provided the only information known so far about the suspect. Cassie Shook, 17, told reporters the boy had a history of violent behavior, including making a “hit list” of fellow students in middle school. Last year, she said the boy threw a pair of scissors at another girl during class and then tossed a computer against a wall. She said administrators ordered him off campus for a while but eventually allowed him to return to class. Neither school officials nor investigators have confirmed those details. About 300 people gathered at Italy’s Central Baptist Church to pray for the victim.