Kentucky school shooting kills 2, wounds 13, teen arrested

Kentucky, US (Reuters): A 15-year-old boy opened fire with a handgun just before classes started at his high school in rural western Kentucky on 23 January, killing two fellow students and wounding 13 other youths before he was arrested, the state’s governor and police said.

The shooter, who has not been officially identified, entered a common area at Marshall County High School in Benton shortly before 8 a.m. (1400 GMT), pulled out a pistol and began firing at students, witnesses told Kentucky media.

The suspect will be charged with two counts of murder and multiple counts of attempted murder, the Kentucky State Police said. Police have not released a motive for the shooting but said they believed the gunman acted alone.

The bloodshed at the school of nearly 1,150 students in a small farming town was the latest outbreak of gun violence that has become a regular occurrence at schools and college campuses across the United States over the past several years.

The students killed were Bailey Hope, a 15-year-old girl, and Preston Cope, a 15-year-old boy, state police said. Five of the victims were in critical condition, police said, but hospital officials said they expected all those wounded in the incident to survive.

Kentucky State Police previously reported that 14 people were shot, including the two who died, but changed that number to 15 late on 23 January. Apart from those who were shot, five other people were also injured in the chaos, police said. All 20 of the victims were between 14 and 18 years old.

At least one hospitalized student suffered a broken jaw from falling and being trampled while trying to escape, Marshall County prosecutor Jeff Edwards said in a phone interview.

The school serves Marshall County, which has a population of about 31,000, and the shooting hit the community hard. Churches held vigils on Tuesday night, including the First Christian Church in Benton, where about 150 people gathered for prayers for the victims.