Two people have been killed and at least six others have been injured in a school shooting at a St. Louis high school Monday.
The perpetrator was identified as Orlando Harris, 19-year-old alumni of Central Visual and Performing Arts school. Armed with an AR-15, Harris reportedly had “over 600 rounds of ammunition and more than a dozen high-capacity magazines,” the city’s police commissioner Michael Sack said.
A handwritten note left by Harris in his car was discovered by police. “I don’t have any friends. I don’t have any family. I’ve never had a girlfriend. I’ve never had a social life. I’ve been an isolated loner my entire life,” Sack confirmed the note said. “This was the perfect storm for a mass shooter,” Harris wrote.
Among the fatalities was a 61-year-old health teacher, Jean Kuczka. Kuczka began working in the city’s public schools two decades ago and was a mother of five.
A 15-year-old student, Alexzandria Bell, was also caught in the crossfire and identified by medical examiners as the second victim of the shooting. The latter’s adoptive father, Andrew Bell, spoke with an NBC local affiliate. “My daughter was planning on coming out here to California and celebrate her birthday with me on Nov. 18, but now we have to plan her funeral… I really want to know how did that man get inside the school? I’m just trying to find some answers,” Bell said.
St. Louis mayor Tishaura Jones said during a news briefing on the shooting: “Our children shouldn’t have to experience this. They shouldn’t have to go through active shooter drills in case something happens. And unfortunately, that happened today.”
According to police, the shooting could have been much worse but for Harris’ gun jamming giving extra students time to escape. There are two magnet high schools on the campus where the shooting took place, hosting roughly 700 students