A suspect has been “arrested without incident” hours after a shooting at Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, left a student dead, announced the authorities Wednesday evening. No other details were immediately disclosed, including the identity of the suspect or a possible motive.
The victim, identified by the authorities as William Chavis Raynard Miller Jr., was rushed to a hospital where he later died of a gunshot wound.
Just after noon, local time, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office reported that a shooting “at the school property” had injured a student, but said the rest of the students were safe. Mount Tabor and surrounding schools were closed when Winston-Salem police and first responders secured the area and reunification efforts began.
An investigation was conducted an hour before the suspect, who is believed to be a high school student, was arrested Wednesday evening, officials said.
The police department has tweeted condolences to the victim, writing, “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family today and in the difficult days to come.”
“I don’t know the pain of losing a child. I don’t even know how to understand,” Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough said at the news conference.
“This is definitely a sad day for the Winston-Salem community,” Mayor Allen Joines said at a news conference in the evening.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued a statement denouncing the shooting.
“For the second time this week, we saw a shooting at a North Carolina school,” Cooper said. “I have been informed by law enforcement and the Department of Public Safety is willing to provide all necessary support. We must work to ensure the safety of students and educators, stop the shooter quickly and keep guns off the ground. school “.
A father of one of the high school students told The Associated Press that his son overheard the shooting while he was in the school gym and that the students told him to hide.
“You see things like this in the media,” Christopher Johnson told the AP. “It’s scary to know he really came and touched you on this occasion. My son is not a victim, but he is a part of it and will probably remember it forever.”
Winston-Salem police chief Catrina Thompson, who was excited during Wednesday’s press session, said no other students were physically injured, but one student suffered a seizure as the incident unfolded.
CBS WFMY-TV affiliate Marissa Tansino in Greensboro, North Carolina, has tweeted the video earlier in the day were parents and neighbors who had formed a “prayer circle” for those affected by the shooting at Mount Tabor High School: