Washington State High School Shooter Lured Victims to Cafeteria Using Text Message, Police Say
— -- The Washington State high school student who shot five students, killing two of them, had invited them via text message to sit at the same lunch table the day of the cafeteria shooting, authorities said.
Jaylen Fryberg, 15, used a .40-caliber gun to commit the shootings, investigators with the Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team said of last Friday’s incident at Marysville Pilchuck High School.
In a statement released this afternoon, police said, "The only pre-planning of the event that detectives are able to confirm is that [Fryberg] had arranged for a meeting of friends during lunch in the cafeteria. A witness confirms that the five victims were seated at the table when the shooter opened fire, striking the victims before turning the gun on himself."
Authorities also said the handgun had been purchased legally and registered and owned by a family member. Police did not specify which relative the handgun was registered to.
"It is still under investigation how the shooter obtained the weapon prior to Friday’s incident," police said in the statement.
Two of the victims, Nate Hatch, 14, and Andrew Fryberg, 15, were relatives of the shooter and remain hospitalized, according to the boy's grandfather, Donald Hatch.
In a tweet, Nate Hatch wrote, "I love you and I forgive you jaylen rest in peace."
Two other girls, Zoe Galasso and Gia Soriano, were killed in the shooting.
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