EDITOR’S NOTE — For the latest developments in this story, and more photos, go to www.heraldnet.com, the website of The Herald newspaper in Everett/Snohomish County, a sister publication to the Peninsula Daily News.
Marysville is about 35 miles north of Seattle.
MARYSVILLE — The shooter who opened fire in a Marysville Pilchuck High School cafeteria on Friday sent text messages to his victims asking them to sit with him at lunch, Snohomish County Sheriff Ty Trenary said Monday.
(Text of sheriff’s statement is below.)
Jaylen R. Fryberg, 14, shot five young people; two were fatally wounded. Fryberg then shot himself in the head. His death has been ruled a suicide, according to the medical examiner.
Trenary told a news conference that a careful investigation continues into exactly what happened on Friday morning. Among other things, detectives are scouring phone and text records between the shooter and his victims. Trenary expects that the investigation will take months.
The sheriff said he hopes that people will focus less on possible motives and more on helping the community recover.
“Candidly, I don’t know the ‘Why?’ is something that we can provide,” Trenary said.
The medical examiner on Monday said Zoe R. Galasso, 14, was fatally shot in the head. Her death was classified a homicide.
Gia Soriano, 14, died Sunday night at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, Dr. Joanne Roberts, the hospital’s chief medical officer, confirmed. The medical examiner is expected to determine the cause of her death later.
Shaylee Chuckulnaskit, 14, was still in critical condition at Providence.
Andrew Fryberg, 15, remains in critical condition in intensive care at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Nate Hatch, 14, has been upgraded to satisfactory condition. The hospital reports that he is awake and breathing on his own. The boys are cousins of the shooter.
Nate appeared to be posting messages on Twitter on Monday, including a message of love and forgiveness toward Jaylen Fryberg.
The Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team took over the investigation on Friday afternoon. The team is a cadre of homicide detectives from around the county.
“Our responsibility is to work on behalf of the victims and in doing so we must collect facts,” Trenary said.
The sheriff added that he wouldn’t speculate on anything being reported by media or on social media that had not been confirmed by detectives.
Trenary said he believed the shooter had attended classes that day. He said witnesses confirmed that the five victims were at the table when Jaylen opened fire.
Detectives have confirmed that a first-year teacher who was attributed with confronting the shooter didn’t have any physical contact with Jaylen. That is contrary to numerous media reports.
The handgun, a .40-caliber Berretta was purchased legally, Trenary said. It was registered to and owned by one of the shooter’s relatives. Trenary said detectives are still trying to determine how Jaylen obtained the weapon.
Trenary said he had no information about rumors about Jaylen leaving behind a letter.
“We want to find answers to this tragedy as much as you do, but there is a process and right way of doing so,” he said.
School still closed
Meanwhile, the high school was expected to be closed all week.
The district’s 21 other schools opened Monday morning, and school officials reported strong student and staff attendance.
“We heard loud and clear from our students that they wanted to get back to school, be with their friends, grieve together and move forward,” Superintendent Becky Berg said in a news release.
“That said, each family will make a personal judgment about what their students needs to transition to our new normal.”
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Sheriff’s statement on Marysville Pilchuck investigation
Here is a statement Snohomish County Sheriff Ty Trenary read Monday at a press conference on the investigation into the Marysville Pilchuck High School shooting:
Good afternoon. The purpose of this briefing is to provide some clarity to the investigation being conducted by the SMART Team.
As I mentioned on Friday, the Snohomish Multi-Agency Response Team is a group of highly skilled detectives from many of the law enforcement agencies in Snohomish County who work together on complex investigations.
The investigation into the shooting at Marysville Pilchuck High School began on Friday afternoon and will continue for several months.
Our responsibility is to work on behalf of the victims and in doing so we must collect facts.
I know that there is a tremendous amount of information that has been reported on by the media and content on social media.
I am not going to speculate on the accuracy of anything that has not been confirmed by detectives. Instead we will focus on the facts that our investigators are able to obtain through the integrity investigation.
There are a few new facts that have been obtained through our investigation:
The shooter had arranged to meet with friends at the lunch hour on Friday. Witnesses confirm that the five victims were at the table when the shooter opened fire, striking the victims before turning the gun on himself.
The handgun, a .40 caliber Berretta was purchased legally, registered, and owned by a family member of the shooter. We are still working to determine exactly how the shooter obtained the weapon prior to Friday’s shooting.
As I have stated, conducting an investigation of this scope takes time and we may not have answers to many of your questions for several months.
Our priority continues to be a thorough investigation.
Rather than focusing on why, I’d encourage us all to focus on the future and that we come together as a community to take the time to heal. This was a tragic event and we know from previous events that it takes the whole community to help comfort those who have lost so much.
We want to find answers to this tragedy as much as you do, but there is a process (and a right way) of doing so.
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Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley
