Two students killed, gunman dead in New Mexico school shooting
AGENDA 21 RADIO
By Lucia I. Suarez Sang, Samuel Chamberlain |
The FBI says it investigated the New Mexico school shooter last year about online comments, though he said he had no plans for an attack at the time.
Two students were killed when a fellow student opened fire at a northern New Mexico high school Thursday morning, law enforcement officials said.
The gunman also was killed, a spokesman for the New Mexico State Police told Fox News. Police released very little information about the shooter, including his name, but did say he was also a student at Aztec High School.
“The families of the victims were notified immediately. They are in our thoughts and prayers,” state police said in a statement on social media.
UPDATE
DECEMBER 8, 2017 10:00 AM PST
2 students fatally shot at New Mexico high school
The student opened fire inside the high school.
The 21-year-old gunman who killed two students before allegedly committing suicide inside a New Mexico high school Thursday disguised himself as a student to get inside, law enforcement officials said.
San Juan County Sheriff Ken Christesen said Friday the gunman, identified as William Atchison, entered Aztec High School around 8:00 a.m. local time with a backpack and a .9mm Glock with multiple magazines on him.
Christesen also shared a message the gunman had written before the shooting that included a timeline of what the gunman had planned.
Christesen called the shooting at Aztec High School a cowardly act and said the shooter was determined to create as much carnage as he could.
Authorities said the gunman lived with his parents in Aztec and had worked at a gas station. In his message, he wrote that work, school and life were bad and he wanted out.
The two students killed were identified as Casey J. Marquez and Francisco I. Fernandez.
The FBI says it investigated the New Mexico school shooter last year about online comments, though he said he had no plans for an attack at the time.
The story is developing. Check back for updates.
Travis McDaniel comforts Loretta Mitchell, whose son was in Aztec High School during the shooting. Her son is OK.
The high school, located in the northwest corner of the state near the Navajo Nation, was evacuated after a period of being in lockdown. Authorities said they cleared the buildings at the school, and students were boarding buses to another location where they could be reunited with their parents.
Initial reports indicated that more than a dozen people were injured in the shooting. However, officials later clarified that no other injuries were reported.
Aztec High School in Northern #NewMexico 2 killed, 15 others injured according to Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President. Full press release below
It wasn’t immediately clear if the shooting happened inside or outside the school. The school of about 900 students was cordoned off as authorities cleared the buildings and teens were taken to another location.
Families and friends of students of Aztec High School are gathered outside city hall, following a shooting at the school@KOB4
On Facebook, law enforcement officials asked people to “avoid the area” while authorities secured the scene.
Despite the closure of all schools in Aztec, authorities said there were no other credible threats to students at the high school or other schools in the neighboring communities of Bloomfield or Farmington.
Aztec is a rural community of 6,500 people in the heart of northwestern New Mexico’s oil and gas country. Its main street is lined by old brick buildings that date back more than a century.
Residents voiced disbelief on social media, while members of the New Mexico congressional delegation, state Attorney General Hector Balderas and other elected officials offered their condolences and other assistance.
“While details are still coming in, we grieve for the innocent victims in this senseless act of violence. Too many lives have been disrupted and too many futures cut short,” U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan said in a tweet.
