The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office has identified Austin Wyatt Rollins as the shooter in Tuesday morning’s attack at Great Mills High School in Maryland.
Rollins reportedly pulled a handgun in the hallways of his high school at about 7:55 a.m., according to a report by CNN. Just before classes started, the 17-year-old allegedly shot a female student and another male student. Within a minute, the school resource officer, Blaine Gaskill, responded to the scene. He and Rollins reportedly fired at one another at the same time.
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Gaskill was unharmed, and Rollins was later pronounced dead, according to the outlet. His female victim, 16 years old, remains in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, while the 14-year-old male student that was hit is now in stable condition.
St. Mary’s County Sheriff Tim Cameron told reporters that the investigators believe Rollins had previously been in a relationship with the female victim, who remains unnamed. He also specified that it’s unclear whether it was Gaskill’s bullet that took Rollins’ life, though he did praise the deputy’s response time.
“He responded exactly as we train our personnel to respond,” the sheriff said.”This is what we train for, this is what we prepare for, and this is what we pray that we never have to do. On this day, we realized our worst nightmare.”
“The notion of ‘it can’t happen here’ is no longer a notion,” Cameron reportedly added.
The school remained on lockdown for a short time, as police searched the premises and ensured that the scene was secure. One student, Jonathan Freese, called CNN from a locked classroom to report on the school’s status.
“I’m still a little shaken up,” he admitted to reporters on the air. “I didn’t really expect for this to happen. I do always feel safe, though, because they always have police at the school.”
Freese added that there had been a few drills to prepare for an active shooting.
Students were eventually evacuated to another nearby high school. Great Mills High is currently being investigated by agents from the FBI’s Baltimore field office, as well as some from the ATF’s local headquarters. The school is just 70 miles southeast of Washington D.C., and houses over 1,500 students.
This marks the 17th school shooting of 2018, according to CNN. Just last week, many students from Great Mills participated in the nationally organized walk-out, calling on lawmakers to enact policies that would make schools safe for students.
