Two Students Killed in Kentucky High School Shooting

Source: Boston Globe / Getty

BENTON, KY (KFVS) –

Two students have died in a school shooting at Marshall County High School in western Kentucky on Tuesday morning.

The victims were a 15-year-old male and a 15-year-old female.

Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin said shooter also was a 15-year-old male student, during a joint news conference with the Kentucky State Police. He said 14 others received gunshot wounds and 5 other students received non-gunshot related injuries.

Nineteen people were injured overall.

“This is a wound that is going to take a long time to heal, and for some in this community will never heal,” Bevin said.

The shooting

At 7:57 a.m. the gunman entered the school.

Police received the first 911 call at 7:59 a.m.

Less than 10 minutes after, first responders arrived on the scene.

The female student died at the scene, while the male student died after being flown to a hospital. Bevin said at least five other victims had been flown to regional hospitals for treatment.

The shooter will be charged with murder and attempted murder.

Kentucky State Police said the investigation was ongoing, but the suspect has been taken into custody at the school and the scene was secure. Bevin said the suspect was detained in a non-violent manner.

The identities of the victims and the suspected shooter have not been released by authorities.

There are reportedly five patients at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, TN. There is no information available on the victims at this time.

Students have been transported to North Marshall Middle School. Parents are being told to pick up their students there, according to a post on the school’s Facebook page.

One student said they could never look at the school the same way again.

Parents of the victims have been notified.

People were asked not to call the school or Marshall County Dispatch.

The investigation

Officials with the Kentucky State Police along with the FBI are handling the investigation. They were assisted by the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department and the McCracken County Sheriff’s Department.

The investigation will include looking into the teen’s home life, along with interviews with student witnesses and others in the are when it happened.

The entire school is being treated as a “dynamic crime scene”. The entrance is currently blocked off. Investigators expect their work will take several days.

The Kentucky State Police Commissioner said the event struck the heart of Kentucky.

McCracken County officials have deputies at all area schools to help ease any fears according to Sheriff Jon Hayden.