APPARENTLY RELATED TO  BULLYING,
OCCURRED IN SCHOOL CAFETERIA
LESS  THAN  TWO  HOURS  AGO

SHOOTER TACKLED BY SCHOOL COUNSELOR
 
A 17-year-old Perry Hall High School student is in critical condition after being shot by a bullied 15-year-old classmate less than two hours ago and has been Medevaced to University of Maryland’s R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center.

The shooter is in police custody after firing at least two shots from a rifle, which he began assembling in a restroom after exiting the school cafeteria, where several students were apparently aware an assault was about to occur, but did not report the knowledge to anyone in authority.

The shooting occurred ten minutes later in the cafeteria at about 10:20 a.m. on the first day back to school after summer vacation and was initially reported by WBAL-1090AM-Radio reporter Robert Lang.

Believed to be related to bullying, a student told Lang the shooter “said over the summer on his Facebook page he was going to kill himself.

“He used to get bullied a lot,” Lang was told. The shooter had apparently threatened violence before.

At around 7 a.m. his Facebook page had a message that read, “First day of school, last day of my life… F the world.”

The perpetrator apparently planned to kill himself after shooting up the school.

He was prevented from doing so however as a school counselor, identified as Jesse Wasmer, tackled him and pinned him against a vending machine as others were apparently throwing things in his direction.

KAMENETZ:  ‘AN ISOLATED INCIDENT’

According to Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, who had been visiting county schools with new Superintendent S. Dallas Dance since 7 a.m., “This is an isolated incident” and school staff “were able to overpower” and subdue the shooter.

Kamenetz later told WBAL-Radio’s C4 Show that the perpetrator evidently shot “at random, not going after any [specific] individual.” The student who was hit by the gunfire is believed to be mentally challenged and did not know the shooter.

Superintendent Dance, who is completing his first weeks on the job, assured parents that “student safety is our paramount priority” and thanked the school’s “heroic and brave faculty members” for their quick action in defusing the situation.

“The crisis plan that’s in place at Perry Hall High School… was followed today,” Dance said.

At a late afternoon press conference he declined to release the names of the students involved. However he said the school will reopen tomorrow.

Early in the afternoon, Gov. Martin O’Malley described the shooting as “a senseless act of violence.”

At a mid-morning news conference, Baltimore County Police Chief James Johnson said a student “pulled from concealment a weapon… and discharged one round,” hitting the victim, then “discharged a second round” as school resource officers acted quickly to subdue him.

SHOOTING BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN ‘RANDOM’

“We believe the incident was random… we’re not aware of any connection between the shooter and the victim at this time,” he said.

“We believe the shooter acted alone.”

Johnson said “charges will be announced… by late this afternoon.

“We’re working with the State’s Attorney’s Office,” he added.

After being locked down for over an hour the school was closed about noon and students were taken to Perry Hall Middle School, about a mile away, where parents were asked to pick them up. Students whose parents were unable to transport them were then bused home from the middle school.

Perry Hall High School, Baltimore County’s largest, is located on Ebenezer Road, which remained closed most of the day between Belair Road and Honeygo Boulevard.

Said Kamenetz:  “It’s a different world out there; I would like to think that Baltimore County is immune to it — but obviously we’re not.”
 
— VoB Staff report
 
[Editor’s note:  This story has been updated at various intervals throughout the day.]
 
alforman@voiceofbaltimore.org