Student Opens Fire at High School Near Seattle; Two Dead

By James Nash, Peter Robison and Britton Staniar  

Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Marysville, Washington, Police Commander Robb Lamoureux talks about today's shooting at Marysville Pilchuck High School that left two dead, including the gunman. (This report is an excerpt. Source: Bloomberg)

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A student opened fire in a high school cafeteria in Marysville, Washington, killing a classmate and injuring at least four others before taking his own life, police said.
The shooting today at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) north of Seattle, was reported at about 10:45 a.m. local time.
The shooter and a female classmate were dead, Marysville Police Commander Robert Lamoureux said in a news conference. He didn’t identify the gunman.
Alan Perez, 16, said he was eating lunch in the
school cafeteria when the shooter pulled a gun from his jacket and started firing. It appeared he was aiming at particular students, Perez said.
“I just saw pow, pow, pow,” he said. Perez said he sprinted from the cafeteria. “There were people all around me running out of the school too, people crying and freaking out everywhere. It was bad.”
Two victims with critical head injuries were being treated at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington, said Joanne Roberts, the hospital’s chief medical officer, at a news conference.

Gun Wounds

A 14-year-old boy who suffered gun wounds to his jaw was being treated at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. He was in serious condition, Susan Gregg, a hospital spokeswoman, told reporters.
The high school was put on lockdown, the school district said on its website. Parents were directed to pick up their children at a community church where students were taken by bus.
The shooting took place amid campaigning in the state for competing Nov. 4 ballot initiatives on gun rights.
A measure backed by former Microsoft Corp. executives Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and Jon Shirley would require criminal background checks of people who buy firearms online or at gun shows. A competing ballot initiative would impose background checks only when the seller is a firearms dealer, which is the federal standard.