Reeling members of a Washington state tribe were left stunned by the shooting carried out by a popular Native American high school football player described as a future tribal leader, who shot five friends before killing himself.
Jaylen Fryberg murdered Zoe Galasso and left four others in serious or critical condition after Friday morning’s rampage inside the Marysville-Pilchuck High School cafeteria, relatives confirmed.
Galasso, remembered as outgoing and vibrant, was dating Jaylen’s cousin, Andrew Fryberg, one of the four students wounded in the shooting. Just last week, at a dance where Jaylen was named Homecoming prince, Galasso posted to Twitter a photo of her and Andrew, in formal wear with boutonnieres in place, smiling and holding hands.
“My favorite,” she captioned the snap, beside a smiley face with hearts in place of the eyes.
The popular teen was good friends with Shaylee Chuckulnaskit and Gia Soriano, both 14, the other students left in “extremely critical” condition at Providence Regional Hospital in Everett. Nate Hatch, 14, a cousin of the shooter’s, is also critical, authorities said, while Andrew is in serious condition.
A family friend created a Go Fund Me page Saturday to help offset funeral costs for the girl, raising nearly $15,000 in less than one day.
“Zoe was very outgoing,” 14-year-old Lukas Thorington told the Seattle Times. “She was into sports. She was nice and awesome. She was fun to hang out with.”
Jaylen, too, was remembered as popular and charming, a young member of the Tulalip Tribes destined for big things. Friends say the 14-year- old freshman may have targeted cousins Andrew and Nate — boys he considered brothers — after he was scorned by a female classmate.
Authorities have yet to provide a motive.
“A lot of folks were considering him that he would move up the culture ranks and become a leader,” tribes member and state Sen. John McCoy told ABC News. “He had that kind of charisma and raw talent.”
Matthew B. Thompson Flower vigils and balloons began to mark the main fence bordering Marysville-Pilchuck High School after the shooting Friday.
KOMO News Chaos reigned outside the school after Friday morning's shooting.
Jordan Stead/AP Friends comfort each other as hundreds packed into The Grove Church for a vigil in mourning of an earlier shooting at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.
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Jaylen had been briefly suspended from the football team two weeks ago after he fought a fellow classmate who disparaged the teen with a racial slur, friends said. Even still, the boy was friendly and positive, flashing a smile as he charmed friends and relatives alike.
No one sensed he was about to break, though his Twitter feed is filled with dark messages, most with typical teenage angst.
“Jaylen was always outgoing, an athlete,” his cousin Brandon Hatch, 26, told Reuters. “He was a funny guy at times, too, a jokester.”
Classes at the high school, some 35 miles north of Seattle, have been canceled for next week. Jaylen’s rampage was stopped by a hero first-year teacher, Megan Silberberger, who grabbed his arms as he reloaded the .40-caliber pistol. The weapon went off again, killing the teen.
The gun is legally registered to Fryberg’s father, sources told CNN.
“You would think there was some animosity that caused it, but they were the best of friends, they were like brothers,” Don Hatch, Nate’s grandfather, told Reuters. “All of us wonder why, but we are trying to pray together and heal and forge on.”
With News Wire Services
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