North Carolina police have arrested the suspected gunman in the fatal shooting of a student on Wednesday at a high school, hours after he fled the scene.
The incident occurred at Mount Tabor High School located in Winston-Salem where authorities responded to reports of gunshots just before 12:10 p.m. The officers were told that a student was shot and wounded while the suspect, who was another student, fled the scene of the crime.
Fatal School Shooting
School authorities immediately placed the educational institution on lockdown after the incident. The victim was later identified as William Chavis Raynard Miller, Jr., but officers did not reveal his age or year in high school.
Winston-Salem Police Chief Catrina Thompson said medical experts immediately tried to resuscitate the victim using life-saving measures. The injured student was later transported to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. Thompson emotionally said that there was a mother and family that would no longer be able to hug their child tonight, Fox News reported.
Authorities reported that no other student was involved or harmed in the shooting but said that one had a seizure as the incident unfolded. There were also rumors that more than one student was shot by the suspect that Thompson dispelled.
After the shooting, the students were evacuated by authorities to a Harris Teeter grocery store at Whitaker Square where they were reunited with their parents. Numerous law enforcement vehicles arrived at the scene after reports of the shooting.
Read Also: Pennsylvania Caretaker Sentenced to 47 Years After 2-Year-Old Boy Dies of Beating, Eating Antifreeze
In a statement, Gov. Roy Cooper said he was briefed regarding the incident and was ready and willing to provide any needed support. "We must work to ensure the safety of students and educators, quickly apprehend the shooter, and keep guns off school grounds," he said.
The incident marks the second shooting at a North Carolina high school with the first taking place in Wilmington. In the separate crime, a student was shot on Monday at New Hanover High School, CNN reported.
Horrific Incident
Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough said he has not been emotional for a while and said he has been weeping for the victim since leaving the hospital. The official said that prayers were needed for a lot of people in this time of crisis, including the Miller family and the victim's mother, Shannon.
During the lockdown, students were hiding under desks as they feared what was going to happen next. There was nothing that Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O'Neill said he could imagine, being a parent and a district attorney himself. He added that Miller was the only victim in the shooting.
Police reported shortly after 6:00 p.m. that they have arrested the suspect gunman in the case and said that it was one of the victim's classmates. In a Twitter post, the Winston-Salem police said the student was taken into custody and that they are continuing investigations regarding the shooting and will release more details as appropriate.
Social media platforms went viral with footage and images of SWAT teams responding to the scene as the school was placed into lockdown, the New York Post reported.
Related Article: Heavily Armed Bank Robbers Strap Civilians as Human Shields on Getaway Vehicles to Escape, 3 People Killed
