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A School Shooting Outside of Seattle

Two students have died, including the gunman.
Marysville-Pilchuck High School. (Google Street View)

A school shooting was reported in Marysville, WA, just before 2:15 p.m. EST Friday. Washington State Patrol arrived shortly thereafter to Marysville-Pilchuck High School, about 30 miles north of Seattle, along with a number of ambulances. The shooting occurred in the cafeteria, around 1:45 p.m. EST.

At least four people were injured. Three patients were transported to Providence Regional Hospital with gunshot wounds, one of which was to the head, and all are currently in critical condition. The fourth student sustained lesser injuries and was sent to Seattle's Harborview Medical Center.

Police are saying that two students died during the incident: A female student and the gunman. According to one of their classmates, the female student had refused to date the shooter, who was later identified as Jaylen Fryberg, a freshman football player of Native American descent. His last tweet was "It won't last.... It'll never last...."

The school, which has 2,500 students, was put on lockdown. Since the space is so large, local news outlets reported it look police some time to search and secure the entire high school. Police then began to clear the students, checking for weapons, and bus them away to a "reunification center" where parents were able to retrieve their children.

The police asked students not to tweet or text while on lockdown, though some did send tweets as the incident was in progress. One student described the incident: "Kid came into the cafeteria and walked over to a table and pulled out the gun and shot 4-6 shots at students sitting down."

Austin Taylor, a student sitting about 10 feet away from the shooting, told King 5 News, "I was sitting at the table right next to the round table (where the shooter was). I just got done eating my food. He was quiet, everyone was talking. All of sudden he stands up, pulls something out of his pocket. At first I thought it was someone making a really loud noise like a bag, a loud pop. There were four more after that. I saw three kids just fall from the table, like they were falling to the ground dead. I jumped under the table as fast as I could. When it stopped, I got back up and saw he was trying to reload his gun. And when that happened, I just ran in the opposite direction and I was out of there as fast as I could."​

FBI spokesperson Ayn Dietrich-Williams confirmed agents have been dispatched to the high school as well.

This is a developing story and will be updated as new information becomes available.

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Polly Mosendz is an associate editor at The Atlantic, where she covers breaking news.

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