STILLWATER, Okla. — A junior high student took his life Wednesday morning as teenagers headed to class to start the school day.
The 13-year-old male apparently died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
No one else was injured, and the school was immediately placed on lockdown.
The police department spokesman didn’t know if any students witnessed the shooting. “I assume so,” he said. “The hallway was probably full of kids at that time of day.”
Stillwater Junior High students said the shooting caught them off-guard.
“Everyone thought it was a joke at first,” ninth-grader Ashlyn Lundholm said. “Then, I heard people screaming. Then, we went to lockdown for 35 to 40 minutes.”
An eighth-grade student said he witnessed the shooting.
“I saw him on the ground,” Aaron Veselak said. “There was blood all around his head.”
Once order was restored and the building deemed safe, school was dismissed for the remainder of the day.
School officials said the boy was considered a good student.
Stillwater Police Capt. Randy Dickerson was asked at a press conference if there was any indication the student was bullied. Evidence to indicate bullying has not been uncovered, Dickerson said.
Stillwater Public Schools Supt. Ann Caine said, “There was nothing in (our) computer that a bullying incident had been reported."
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Details for this story were provided by the Stillwater (Okla.) NewsPress.
