METRONEWS
© New Zealand Broadcasting School 2024

by New Zealand Broadcasting School students

Maryland school shootout: two students injured, gunman dead

News

getty
Great Hills High School went into lockdown just before 8am on March 20.  Getty Images

Great Mills High School student Austin Wyatt Rollins opened fire in a hallway yesterday NZ time, injuring two students.

Authorities said school resource officer Blaine Gaskill was alerted to the shooter on campus and "responded to the scene in less than a minute".

St. Mary's County Sheriff Timothy Cameron said Officer Gaskill fired a round at the shooter and the gunman simultaneously fired back.

He said Rollins was later pronounced dead.

16-year-old Great Mills High student Jaelynn Willey is fighting for her life in hospital and 14-year-old Desmond Barnes is in stable condition.

Screen Shot 2018 03 22 at 2.08.04 AM
Andrew Rollins shot and injured Desmond Barnes and Jaelynn Willey. Facebook

Authorities believe 17-year-old Rollins had been in a prior relationship with female victim, Jaelynn Willey.

Sheriff Timothy Cameron praised Officer Gaskill on his swift response to the situation but said it was unclear whose bullet killed Rollins.

"This is what we train for, this is what we prepare for and this is what we pray we never have to do," he said. "On this day, we realised our worst nightmare."

Just last week, Great Mills High School students participated in a national 'walkout' of classes to protest gun violence in schools after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida last month.