Police: 16-Year-Old Shoots Fellow Student at Liberty High
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JACKSON, Tenn. – A local high school student is hospitalized after being shot at school, Thursday. The 17-year-old student was shot in the thigh. Police said the 16-year-old classmate who pulled the trigger is now in custody. Local law enforcement confirmed this was the first ever shooting at a Jackson-Madison County school. Investigators said the shooting happened right in front of the principal’s office. The shots rang out as fellow students were loading their buses to go home. “Liberty’s a good school. This is unusual,” said Betty Puryears, who works in the cafeteria at Liberty Tech High. “The victim and the suspect, they both are students here and school had been dismissed and it happened just right out here in front of school as it was letting out,” said Captain Tyreece Miller, with Jackson Police Department. Police believe the victim and the 16-year-old gunman know each other. “We know this guy was specifically targeted, we are still investigating the motive,” Captain Miller said. Betty Puryears said she feels unsafe knowing that a 16-year-old was not only able to get his hands on a deadly weapon, but brought it to school. “People can buy them on streets. Get them anywhere,” Puryears said. The Jackson Police Department, Madison County Sheriff’s Department and the Tennessee Highway Patrol all responded to campus immediately and were able to identify, track down, and take the teen into custody quickly. Police said they are always preparing for situations like this one. “We have school shootings that happen all over the country and we’ve talked about it in many staff meetings. Just a matter of time before it happened here,” Captain Miller said. Puryears said she hopes Jackson police and the school work together to increase campus security. “We need metal detectors, you know? You can’t, you’re not going to stop everything but you can slow it down,” she said. Investigators said the shooter was questioned and spent Thursday night in the Madison County Juvenile Detention Center. The victim was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
