Four teenagers remain hospitalized with serious injuries after a school shooting that took place on Friday in Washington State. That morning, 14-year-old Jaylen Ray Fryberg opened fire in the cafeteria of Marysville-Pilchuck High School, in a town north of Seattle. Fryberg killed one student and injured several others before taking his own life.
Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Wash. confirmed on Saturday morning that it was still treating two 14-year-old girls in critical condition. The two injured girls being held at Providence have been identified as Shaylee Chuckulnaskit and Gia Soriano.
“Our family is in shock,” said the family of Gina Soriano in a statement released through Providence. “We appreciate your thoughts and prayers during this tragedy. Our hearts go out to the other victims and their families. Please allow us our privacy as we deal with this tragedy.”
A social studies teacher at the school, Megan Silberberger, reportedly intervened in the shooting and attempted to stop Fryberg. Marysville Education Association president Randy Davis told NBC’s Elisha Fieldstadt that Silberberg is “trying to cope, herself, and has requested that please give her some time and some privacy.” This is Silberberg’s first year teaching at the school.
Two teenaged boys, Nate Hatch, 14, and Andrew Fryberg, 15, are also currently hospitalized at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The two injured boys were reportedly cousins of Fryberg. Hatch has been classified as being in serious but improving condition in intensive care, while Andrew Fryberg remains in intensive care.
“They’re just three complete buddies,” Don Hatch, the grandfather of one of the wounded, told NBC, “and they couldn’t be closer than three brothers.”
Fryberg was a member of the American Indian Tulalip Tribes, which are expected to release a statement this weekend regarding the shooting.
Americans have witnessed more than 100 mass shootings since 2009, and according to the FBI they continue to be on the rise.
Ned Resnikoff is an urban policy analyst, researcher, writer, and editor. His byline has appeared in a variety of publications, including the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Dissent, and The Nation. He writes the newsletter Public Comment, which can be found at publiccomment.blog.