The suspect in a high school shooting in Kentucky was identified as Gabe Parker, the son of a newspaper editor.
Mary Garrison Minyard, his mother, rushed to the scene when she heard that a shooting took place at the school. When she got there, she learned the suspect was her son, the Courier Journal reported.
Minyard works for the Marshall County Daily Online. Her colleague, Ann Beckett, confirmed to the Courier Journal that she took over the story after Minyard realized it was her son.
Minyard declined to comment on the case when she was approached at her home, the paper reported. Other members of the boy’s family also declined to comment.
Officials have not named the 15-year-old, who is in custody, and authorities are planning to charge him as an adult in the attack, which left two dead and more than a dozen people injured at Marshall County High School in Benton on Tuesday, Jan. 23.
Friends and other people who know Parker, who played in the school band, said that he was shy and a “grandma’s boy,” who would go fishing with his grandparents.
Preston Ryan Cope and Bailey Nicole Holt were shot and killed. (Facebook)“Anything Grandma needed, he would get,” said Allyn Hornick, his neighbor. “His grandma was his best friend.”
Ashley Collie, 15, a sophomore, said that she was stunned to see Parker being escorted out of the school as a suspect. He seemed “like a really good kid,” she said, adding that he was quiet and kept to himself.
Collie said that he was “definitely shooting to kill” as several victims were shot in the head, the paper reported.
On social media, some people claimed that Parker had been bullied. Collie, however, said she didn’t know if that allegation was true.
Collie added that some of his friends said that he was “snappy” when he got back from Christmas break, and they also said that he had been talking about violence and wanting to join the Mafia.
Earlier today, I spoke with @GovMattBevin of Kentucky regarding yesterday’s shooting at Marshall County High School. My thoughts and prayers are with Bailey Holt, Preston Cope, their families, and all of the wounded victims who are in recovery. We are with you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2018
The New York Daily News reported that the suspect went to the school’s common area at 8 a.m. and opened fire, killing Preston Cope and Bailey Holt, who were both 15.
Officials said that another 14 victims were shot and four were injured as they tried to escape.
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