Kentucky police have named the two teenagers killed when a 15-year-old classmate opened fire with a handgun in a school in the town of Benton Tuesday morning, leaving the close-knit rural community searching for answers over America’s latest school shooting, the 11th so far in 2018.Here’s what we know so far about the violence at Marshall County High School.
- Police named the two slain teens as Bailey Nicole Holt and Preston Ryan Cope, both aged 15. Holt was pronounced dead at the scene, and Cope died after being flown with other victims by helicopter to the Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville.
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- Fourteen other teens were shot by the gunman, while four sustained other injuries, including one who broke his jaw when he was trampled in the panic. The injured, 13 males and five females, range in age from 14 to 18, police say. Of the four surviving wounded who were airlifted to Vanderbilt Medical Center, three are in critical but stable condition and one is in stable condition. Hospital officials said they expect all the remaining injured to survive, Reuters reported.
- The alleged shooter, a 15-year-old male student, was arrested at the scene “in a nonviolent manner” and is in custody, Gov. Matt Bevin said in a news conference Tuesday night. He’ll be charged with two counts of murder and multiple counts of attempted murder. Due to his age, his identity hasn’t been publicly disclosed by authorities, but it will be made public if the case is moved to adult court and he is indicted. Few details have been released about the gun he used.
- Authorities have not publicly identified a motive, but say they believe the shooter acted alone. “There’s no good answer for it,” Bevin said.
- A witness spoken to by the Associated Press said the shooter kept firing until he ran out of ammunition, then tried to run away. “He was determined. He knew what he was doing,” said Alexandria Caporali, a student at the school.
- The attack came a day after another school shooting in Italy, Texas, in which a 15-year-old female student was shot, and a 16-year-old male arrested. The victim survived and is recovering.
- Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot during a 2011 assassination attempt, said the shooting highlighted once again the need for tougher gun laws. “Our nation has experienced 13 mass shootings already this year, and it's only January. We will never accept these horrific acts of violence as routine,” she said in a statement. But there’s been no sign that the latest bloodshed is likely to provoke any meaningful legislative change. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and the families there,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in response to the shooting.