Three people were killed last week in schools as a result of shooting incidents in Los Angeles and Grayson, Ky.
In Los Angeles last Thursday one student was killed and another wounded at Fairfax High School when a 9th grader there allegedly shot them during a morning English class.
Armed with a .357 magnum pistol, the gunman reportedly entered a classroom at 8:20 A.M. and fired a single shot at a 16-year-old student, who was later pronounced dead.
The bullet passed through the student and struck another student in the chest, according to a spokesman for the Los Angeles Unified School District. Late last week, the wounded student was listed in good condition.
A suspect in the shooting was being detained by police last week, according to a detective in the homicide division of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Hollywood station.
The shooting took place during a winter intersession held between the regular fall and spring semesters. Approximately 2,000 students from several area schools were on campus completing remedial coursework at the time, district officials said.
A crisis-counseling team was available for students in the class where the shooting took place. Otherwise, all classes remained in session for the rest of the day.
Kentucky Shooting
In the second incident, a Kentucky high school student allegedly shot and killed his English teacher and a janitor and briefly held his classmates hostage before surrendering to police.
Arrested was Scott Pennington, a senior and academic standout at East Carter High School in Grayson. According to officials, the youth walked into his English class near the end of the school day Jan. 18 and pointed a .38-caliber pistol toward Deanna McDavid, his teacher.
He reportedly fired the first shot over her head but hit and killed her with a second shot. As students scurried, a janitor, Marvin Hicks, 51, rushed into the room, pushed a student out of the way, and was shot once and killed.
Police said the youth then ordered classmates to close the classroom window blinds and released the 22 students a few at a time until he was alone. He surrendered to police, who found the apparent weapon on the teacher’s desk.
The 17-year-old was charged by state police with two counts of murder and 22 counts of kidnapping. A judge will decide at a hearing next month if the youth will be tried as an adult.
School officials said they knew of no motive for the incident.
Ms. McDavid, 48, was a popular teacher who had worked at the eastern Kentucky school for 17 years. Mr. Hicks was also a longtime district employee, officials said.
School administrators canceled classes on Jan. 19, the day after the shooting, and state officials were coordinating teams of counselors to meet with the 800 students at the school.--M.S. & L.H.
