Rigby, Idaho: Yesterday morning a sixth-grade female student shot two classmates and a custodian at Rigby Middle School just after 9:00 am.
All three victims are expected to survive though the two students that were shot, one boy and one girl, would be kept in the hospital overnight and one may end up requiring surgery in the future. The custodian was treated and had been released form the hospital by the time a press conference was held yesterday afternoon.
The injuries were all described as “non-life-threatening extremity injuries” by Dr. Michael Lemon, the trauma medical director at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.
“This is the worst nightmare a school district could ever face,” Superintendent Chad Martin said at the press conference. “We prepare for it, but we’re never truly ready for it.” He additionally announced that there would be no classes throughout the district on Friday and counselors would be available.
The girl’s identity has not been released beyond saying that she was an Idaho Falls resident that attended the Rigby middle school. Investigators do not know how she came to be in possession of the firearm or the motive behind the shooting.
According to investigators, the girl pulled the firearm from her backpack in the school hallway and shot two students before going outside where the the employee was shot.
“During the shooting, a teacher disarmed the student and detained her until law enforcement took her into custody,” Jefferson County Sheriff Steve Anderson said.
Mark Taylor, Jefferson County Prosecutor stated that they will consider what charges are “appropriate” once the investigation is complete though three charges of attempted murder are being considered.
Another student at the school, 12-year-old Yandel Rodriguez said she and her classmates had been in the classroom with their teacher doing work when they heard a “loud noise, and then there were two more loud noises. Then there was screaming,” she said. “Our teacher went to check it out, and he found blood.”