A Maryland high school student has been confirmed dead after he was shot by another student in the first-floor bathroom of a high school on Friday, according to the Harford County Sheriff’s Office.
During a 4:30 p.m. press conference, Sheriff Jeff Gahler identified the student as 15-year-old Warren Grant, a student of Joppatowne High School who lived in the Edgewood area of Joppatowne, an unincorporated community about 18 miles northeast of Baltimore.
The suspect is a 16-year-old student who showed up for his first day of school Friday, on the fourth day of the school year. Gahler said the state’s attorney has confirmed the suspect will be charged in the shooting and that the sheriff’s office has pushed for him to be tried as an adult.
Authorities first received a call around 12:36 p.m. local time of what was possibly an active shooter, Gahler told news crews during the first of two updates outside the school.
He said the school’s principal and a school resource officer were first to respond, although they didn’t hear the gunshot, but did hear the commotion. The teenage suspect was apprehended shortly after fleeing near neighboring houses, he said, while Grant was immediately attended to by school nurses.
“Joppatowne is a loving and strong community who will without a doubt rally among our families, support one another, and continue to support our community and all of our families,” Joppatowne High School principal Melissa Williams said during the latest update.
Following the tragic news of a school shooting two days prior in Georgia, killing two teachers and two students, Gahler said he was grateful for the quick response of his officers and outside agencies, and that the incident was an isolated event.
“We’re all familiar with the horrible shooting that took four lives in Georgia just a couple days ago, and here we stand in Harford County with a school shooting,” he said. “Within the first two minutes, we had our first response deputy on the scene. Within 15 minutes, more than 100 police officers were here from all of our local partner agencies.”
Current legislation in the state bars the sheriff’s office from questioning the 16-year-old suspect, so a motive couldn’t yet be confirmed, according to Gahler.
“This is a 16-year-old suspect that we are now not allowed to talk to,” the sheriff said in response to questions by the media.
“We do have sufficient information that he will be charged in association with the shooting without the need to be interviewed,” he said. The 16-year-old suspect’s identity will be revealed at the time of charges.
The weapon involved in the shooting hasn’t yet been recovered, or identified as what type of weapon, according to the sheriff’s office. The investigation is ongoing.
A spokesperson for the school didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but updates can be found on the Harford County Public School’s website and Facebook page.