“It’s not something normal that goes on here. You hear of people’s cows getting out or sheep running down the middle of Main Street, but you don’t hear about a school shooting at all.”
A school shooting Thursday at Rigby Middle School, shook the community in Jefferson County, Idaho, and ended with a disarmed 6th grade shooter and three non-fatally injured victims.
According to the East Idaho News, the attack began early Thursday morning, with the school going to full lock down between 9:00 and 9:30 AM. An unidentified sixth-grade girl entered the building and began shooting, injuring 2 students and a custodian. A teacher was able to disarm the suspect until law enforcement arrived on scene.
As reported by IdahoEdNews.org, Jefferson County Sheriff Steve Anderson said during a press conference that the suspect could face up to 3 counts of attempted murder, and that a pistol is suspected to have been the type of weapon used.
District wide, schools plan will be closed Friday with emotional support being available to students. Multiple law agencies including the FBI were on scene, and the Idaho Falls Regional Bomb Squad was dispatched to a neighborhood in Idaho Falls in direct connection with the shooting.
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View on XGovernor Brad Little tweeted, "I am praying for the lives and safety of those involved in today's tragic events. Thank you to our law enforcement agencies and school leaders for their efforts in responding to the incident. I am staying updated on the situation."
All students that were on lockdown and evacuated to Rigby High School are now reunited with their families, albeit shaken and reeling from the day’s events. An unidentified father of a student from the school was quoted by East Idaho News.com as saying, "It’s not something normal that goes on here. You hear of people’s cows getting out or sheep running down the middle of Main Street, but you don’t hear about a school shooting at all."
This is the third school shooting in Idaho’s history, but the first with serious injuries. According to the Deseret News, in 1999 a mentally disturbed teen entered the doors of Notus Junior-Senior High School and fired two shots from a shotgun, narrowly missing a group of students. In 1989 a Rigby Junior High School pulled a gun and took a 14-year old student hostage before the suspect being taken into custody.
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